Timers
by BadButt94
Summary: Because of his guarding duties, Sasuke Uchiha was dragged through a well to another universe where demons, half demons, and humans co-exist. But, once he gets there, he's forced to participate in a war while also hiding his feelings for a half-breed
1. Preview Trailer

**Preview for 'Timers'**

**Summary: **Preview Trailer for 'Timers'

**Author Note: **From here on out, I will start making previews for any upcoming story I have (this does not include one-shots because I see no reason to do so). I will also start treating each chapter as if it is an episode. So at the end of each chapter I start to put a mini-summary for the next chapter.

**Narrator's Voice (My Voice)**

_**Some Characters' Tone of Voice**_

Normal Characters' Tone of Voice

… - Used to separate events

…- The longer version is used to separate between me talking and the events that relate to my min paragraph.

…

**In modern Tokyo, Japan, a middle class family, the Uchiha Clan, is in charge of guarding that tomb of a powerful, sleeping ****half-demon and a gateway that leads to another world. The duty has been passed down from Uchiha to Uchiha of the next generation to take over the responsibility. This time… it's Sasuke Uchiha's turn.**

…..

Sasuke opens the door to the shrine -where a well like gateway is sealed off- to retrieve his black cat, Itachi. "There you are, you lazy feline. Come on. It's time to eat." He grumbles as he picks Itachi up before tuning and glaring at the well gateway. "Hn. I don't see the point of checking on or even guarding this stupid thing. It's never going to open up anyway. Besides, the 'all powerful' half demon is sleeping. Who's going to mess with him anyway?" Sasuke snorted before turning to leave through the shrine's doors. But, right when he was about to leave, the well gateway became unsealed and opened up. Sasuke gasped as red chakra exploded out of the well before grabbing him and Itachi. The only thing he could do was hold on tight to his cat.

"What's happening?" Sasuke screamed.

"_**You need to be strong, Sasuke. This is your destiny."**_

"YOU TALK?" Sasuke yelled as he looked at Itachi.

…

**He will have to make tough decisions and go through a lot of hardships.**

…..

"_**It is your destiny to fight and save your side of the gateway well. These weapons will help you along the way, but you must be the one to accept and command your destiny. Now choose!"**_ Itachi stated to a confused Sasuke.

…

"_**I **_absolutely _**REFUSE**_ to work with this… _**Uchiha**_." Naruto sneered.

"Yeah. I'd rather stick my head in acid before _**EVER**_ agreeing to work with _**HIM**_!" Sasuke yelled as he pointed at Naruto.

Tsunade gave a long, harsh sigh before smacking both of them in the head. "Stop it. I don't care what you two _**REFUSE **_to do. This is both of your destinies, so you two have to suck it up and deal with it until the end."

…..

**He'll have allies to help him along the way.**

…..

"Let's get one thing straight _**Uchiha**_… I don't nor will I ever _**'like'**_ you, so stay out of my way. I don't need to be babysitting some weak _**Uchiha**_ human brat… _**Got it**_?" Naruto glared hard at Sasuke, who just glared back.

…

"Do not worry Sasuke. You have the power to save both sides of the gateway well and survive your destiny. You just have to stay true to your judgments and decisions. And, as an added bonus, I'll be here to guide you the entire time." Itachi said as he floated next to Sasuke in the well.

…

"I get to help Sasuke save the world? Yaya! Did you hear that Sasuke, we get to work together!" Ino cheered as she jumped in place.

"I've always wanted to go on an adventure. This life was getting too boring away." Tenten smirked with her hands on her hips.

"This is a major drag. Saving the world isn't really on my agenda, but if I must… then I _**guess **_I'll help… but I won't like it." Shikamaru sighed as he ran his hand down his face.

…

"Tsunade and I will be the ones to stay here and help you six along your journey as best as we can. With us on your team, you have nothing to worry about." Jiraiay smiled with his hand in the 'thumbs-up' sign.

…..

**He'll face hard and surprising enemies.**

…

"My older brother, Kyuubi, is my father's pet. He would give up anything just to be the 'favorite'. I don't give two fucks though. He can have that title. I hate my old man anyway. Minato can suck my dick and go straight to Hell for all I care." Naruto growled with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

…

"_**During the rest of the time I'm forced to be with you, I don't want to EVER hear HER name… EVER AGAIN…"**_ Naruto dangerously growled before turning away and continuing on.

…

"It's good to actually see you again… _**Little Brother**_…" A girl with long raven hair evilly smirked.

"Kimuko? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"This is where I've been for the past several years. I came here because it was the only place where I didn't have to worry about you taking everything from me… But I can see that you're still doing it… You always were the _**'Golden Child'**_." Kimuko sneered.

…

"It's so wonderful to see you again, son. I was starting to get the idea that you never wanted to see me again." Minato said in a dramatically, fake sad tone.

"I _**DIDN'T **_want to see you again! I fucking hate you!" Naruto yelled.

"Such language. I _**DID NOT**_ raise you to have a sharp tongue like that." Minato playfully scolded.

"_**YOU didn't raise me at all! Now, stop fucking with me and tell me where Sasuke is!"**_

"Sasuke? Sasuke…? Sasuke…? Sorry, doesn't ring a bell." Minato smirked playfully while Naruto glared and growled. "Unless… you're talking about this cute little Uchiha here." Minato's smirk didn't disappear as he moved back his cloak and reviled an unconscious Sasuke in his arms.

"_**Sasuke!" **_Everyone shouted.

Naruto ran full speed at Minato and jumped in an attempt to save Sasuke. But Minato was too quick and moved out the way, causing Naruto to crash to the ground.

"I don't think so. If you want this boy, then you have to come to my palace and get him back during the war. Until then, I'll keep cute little Sasuke with me. Tata." Minato evilly laughed as he disappeared.

…

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked form his sitting position on the bed.

"I'm Kyuubi Namikuza, Naruto's older brother. And from the looks of things… I would guess that you're his mate, correct?" Kyuubi ask as he got closer to Sasuke's blushing face. He looked deep into Sasuke's deep eyes before pulling back with a sigh. "Pity. Maybe, after this whole war is over, I'll claim you as my mate."

"_**Don't I have to LIKE you before letting THAT happen?"**_ Sasuke glared.

"You're smart, I'll give you that. But, that attitude just might get you killed." Kyuubi walked over to the door and gripped the handle. "You might as well get comfortable… You'll be here awhile." And with that Kyuubi walked out the room and left Sasuke alone.

…...

**And hopefully find love among hatred.**

…..

Both Naruto and Sasuke held onto the other for dear life while staring into the other's pair of beautiful eyes. "No matter what happens… I still don't like you…" Naruto softly whispered.

"I know." Sasuke whispered back.

…

**Will they be able to survive the war?**

…..

Naruto stood proudly in front of his army of friends with his hand on his sword, a glare on his face, and determination in his eyes.

"_**Kill all that stand in your way! … But, leave the old man and my brother to me!" **_Naruto commanded his army.

"_**Do you really think you'll be able to defeat us, brother…?" **_Kyuubi teased.

"_**Keep talking… You won't be around for long anyway."**_ Naruto glared.

…

Naruto used his sword to slice through another set of demons. He turned his head to the right and saw Sasuke fighting not too far from him.

"**SASUKE!"** Naruto shouted.

When he heard his name called, Sasuke's heart swelled at the sight of Naruto. **"NARUTO!"**

Their feet took off running towards each other, but Kyuubi intervened. _**"I don't think so."**_ He smirked.

"**SASUKE!"** Naruto yelled.

…

Everyone coward in fear at the enormous amount of demonic energy Naruto was giving off.

"_**That's it, my son! Unleash that power!" **_Minato evilly laughed.

"_**Where the hell did he get all this power from?" **_Kyuubi shouted as the demonic wind whirled around him.

…

"**NARUTO! NO!" **Sasuke quickly gripped onto Naruto in an attempt to get through the half-demon. **"PLEASE DON'T DO IT! NARUTO! NARUTO!"**

…...

**These are all good questions.**

…..

"You're not like most half demons." Sasuke said with his eyes still on the sunset.

"Yeah. I'm popular." Naruto joked, causing both to chuckle.

…..

'**TIMERS'**

**Coming Soon No Later Than June 2****nd****!**

**Rated M for Mature**

**Warnings and other information about this story will be included with the ACTUAL story.**


	2. Being Dragged Into a Strange World

**Warnings for This Story: **Cussing, violence, murder, sexual themes and suggestions, yaoi, and eventual mentioning of male preg.

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Cussing, violence, and murder

**Summary: **Because of his guarding duties, Sasuke Uchiha was dragged through a well to another universe where demons, half demons, and humans co-exist. But, once he gets there, he's forced to participate in a war while also hiding his feelings for a half-breed.

**Timers**

**Chapter I: Being Dragged Into a Strange World **

**Normal P.O.V.**

Sasuke Uchiha, age 18 and a senior at Konoha High School, had just got off the bus after a long day. Today marked two more months until he could officially graduate from his high school. He decided that he wasn't going to college right away. He wanted to try and figure out what he wanted to do with himself before he decided to attend the college of his choice. His clan wasn't rich but they didn't live pay check to pay check either, so they were ok with Sasuke's decision. It only gave them more time to put some money away for Sasuke's tuition. The only thing he can't wait for is to be out of that school. He can't stand the fact that a lot of girls and guys actually like and try to hit on him. He doesn't really understand it. Sasuke believes that he's really not all that cute anyway, which he actually is. He stands at around 5'5, has porcelain, smooth skin, raven hair with navy blue highlights that sticks out in the back, long raven bangs that touch his shoulders, and the deepest onyx eyes anyone has ever seen. All in all he was a handsome young man… with low self-esteem.

Today was Friday and he was more than happy to have two days to himself. During the whole week, he had to stay after so that he could study a little bit more for his upcoming tests and quizzes that were thrown at him left and right. Two days away from teachers, annoying and idiotic people, and stupid tests and quizzes was exactly what the doctor ordered.

"Hi mom." The tired teen sighed as he came into the house, locked the door, and peeled off his converses.

"Hello dear. How was your day?" His mom, Mikoto, smiled as she peeked her head out of the kitchen.

The sound of rushing water in the background let Sasuke know that she was doing the dishes. His father worked for the government while his mom stayed at home and did whatever stay at home moms did. His father, Fugaku, was the reason they weren't about to be evicted like some of his friends' he knew and their parents. Sasuke could say that he was content with his life, he just wish that there was little bit more excitement in his life. The town he lived in was pretty decent, but when it comes to entertaining teenagers, it wasn't near the decent side.

"Fine." He shrugged tiredly before dragging himself up the stairs and into his room.

"That's great honey." The older raven smiled again before returning her attention to the dishes.

Sasuke closed the door, slide to his bed and laid down. He snuggled his pillow closer to his body while sighing in content. All he felt like doing was resting his tired body on his comfortable bed and drifting off to sleep… That's all he wanted to do all day.

"Sasuke, honey, can you please go feed Itachi?" His mom called in a sweet voice.

He huffed as he ran his hand over his face and glared at nothing in particular. "So much for that."

He groaned while lifting his heavy body up into a sitting position. He thought about waiting until his nap was over, but decided against it. He didn't want his mom to keep reminding him and interrupting his nap. That would only make him even angrier. As he sat on his bed, he thought about all the different places that lazy feline could be.

"_He didn't greet me when I walked in the door, so he must be in Naruto's Tomb."_ Sasuke thought before getting up.

"_**Sasuke… Sasuke… Sasuke…"**_

"Who's there?" The raven jumped as he looked around. "No one's there…" He sighed. Lately, strange things have been happening. He's been feeling his heart beat rapidly and ache. It feels as if it is calling out to someone. Longing for a lost lover of some kind. Ironically, Sasuke has no lover so there shouldn't be anyone it would be calling out to. But, the weirdest part is he keeps hearing someone call his name. And, just like today, there would be no one there, but he could still hear his name being called. It was eerie. It would be times like this when he actually wished that he had a sibling there to mess with him.

After sighing one more time and stretching until his back bones popped, Sasuke went down stairs and put on his shoes before heading to Naruto's Tomb.

Itachi has been the family's pet cat even before he was even born. Sasuke is still surprised that he hasn't died yet, but he's fine with that. Itachi has been a true and loyal friend for him throughout the 18 years he's been alive. Truth be told, Sasuke wouldn't know what to do with Itachi around.

On another note, Naruto's Tomb is a shrine where a half-demon named Naruto Uzumaki was put to sleep by a spell user that was obsessed with him. Naruto did date her for a little bit, but dumped her because his heart was calling for someone else. After he was put to sleep, his father, a powerful demon by the name of Minato Namikaze found a way from his world to the human world, where only humans reside, and asked Sasuke's parents to guard his son. They refused of course, but when Minato saved their lives, they had no choice but to accept. That was over 15 years ago and they're still guarding him to this day. Rumor says that only the person Naruto's heart was calling out to can wake him up. The only problem is that they don't know who or where they are. So, until then they have to guard his tomb until then. Once Sasuke turned 14, it was his turn to guard the tomb and he hates that the duty now falls on him.

Sasuke opened the door to the shrine -where a well like gateway is sealed off- to retrieve his black cat, Itachi. "There you are, you lazy feline. Come on. It's time to eat." He grumbles as he picks Itachi up before tuning and glaring at the well gateway. "Hn. I don't see the point of checking on or even guarding this stupid thing. It's never going to open up anyway. Besides, the 'all powerful' half demon is sleeping. Who's going to mess with him anyway?" Sasuke snorted before turning to leave through the shrine's doors. But, right when he was about to leave, the well gateway became unsealed and opened up. Sasuke gasped as red chakra exploded out of the well before grabbing him and Itachi. The only thing he could do was hold on tight to his cat.

"What's happening?" Sasuke screamed.

"_**You need to be strong, Sasuke. This is your destiny."**_

"**YOU TALK?"** Sasuke yelled as he looked at Itachi.

"_**Yes Sasuke, I do talk."**_

"**SINCE WHEN?"**

"_**Since I was born."**_ Itachi coolly answered.

"**WELL YOU NEVER DID IT AROUND ME! I DEFINITELY WOULD'VE REMEMBER IT!"** Sasuke kept screaming in shock.

"_**Just calm down Sasuke and look."**_ Itachi commanded in a gentle voice.

Sasuke managed to calm down a little bit, but when he looked down his shock only returned. When he looked down, the red chakra that dragged him into the well suddenly turned blue and released him while also turning his surroundings into a mirror like cage. Once he was free, four weapons appeared before his eyes. There was a sword, a set of arrows and a bow, a staff, and a belt of knives. And, for the second time… her thought he heard someone or something calling his name again. To say that Sasuke was scared and confused at the same time was a definite understatement.

"Itachi… What's going on? Where are we? What are these weapons?" Sasuke asked as he turned to his cat.

"_**We are inside of the well inside the shrine. The red charka that pulled us down here belonged to Naruto Uzumaki."**_

"The half-demon my family is in charge of guarding" Itachi nodded. "But why? He's sleeping. What does he want with me?"

"_**He's been calling out for you before he was put to sleep. He needs you to free him. You are the only one who can."**_

Sasuke's eyes widen at what his talking pet cat just told him. At this point, Sasuke was over the fact that Itachi was talking. He was too busy trying not to scream at his epiphany. "So you mean to tell me that _**I'm**_ the one that's technically mentioned in Naruto's story?" The raven asked, not really caring that he or Itachi was still floating in the well.

"_**Yes, Sasuke. You are the one we've been waiting 1000 years for."**_

"1000 years? But, I thought that Minato only appeared 15 years ago?"

"_**It was 15 years in this world, but 1000 years passed in the world where we're going."**_

"Ok, now I'm confused. What other world?" Sasuke questioned.

"_**You recall that Minato was a full demon, correct?"**_ He nodded at Itachi's statement. _**"And, as you noticed, there are NO demons in this world. That is because they're all on the other side of this well. Many years ago, a lot of demons and humans could not get along. They had a war. Demons mostly came out on top while the humans began to die out. It wasn't until the two king of demons, Minato, and the king of humans, Naomi made a treaty. Minato would take all the demons and the humans who approved of demons to another world while the humans remained here. Naomi was reluctant to sign it. His only daughter, Princess Kushina Uzumaki, ended falling in love with Minato. That meant that if he signed that treaty, then Naomi would also be signing over his only daughter. He knew that the wars had to stop, so he finally signed the treaty and watched with a heavy heart as his daughter and some of the other humans left with the king of demons. That's where they've been this whole time. I've been there a few times. One thing about demons, they love to keep things old fashion. They basically live in an outdated version of this place, so don't be shocked if they live in huts instead of houses and there's no internet. Also, because humans' life spans are shorter than demons or half-demons, time seems to go slower here. Time feels like it speeds up in the demon's world. They consider being 100 being a child. They're too busy most of the time to really notice time speeding by them. Time stands still to them, but when they blink their eyes a human, once young and active, will become old, gray, and willing to die." **_Itachi explained.

"Ok, so they've pretty much been living there for centuries. So how in the hell did Minato make it back over to our side? And why the hell did he choose my calm to watch over his son?"

"_**After Naruto was put to sleep, Minato reopened the portal that he used to transport all the demons and some of the humans to his world to get here. What he found interesting was that it had actually been opened almost a year before he reopened it, but it didn't faze him. The person who put Naruto to sleep was a relative of yours Sasuke. Minato made his way back here just to ask your parents to pay for what your relative did. Once they agreed, Minato set up a shrine with the well inside. It was just easier access for him to pass through from world to world."**_ Itachi informed.

"So let me get this straight. The king of demons and Naruto's dad, Minato Namikaze, took all of the demons, humans who are ok with demons, and Naomi's daughter, Kushina Uzumaki to another world to end the wars between humans and demons. After Naruto was put to sleep by one of my relatives, he made my parents and I guard what wasn't our fault. And now we're being pulled into a well, so I can free a sleeping half-demon from a spell a relative of mine placed on him?" Sasuke put together.

"_**Pretty much."**_

"And who in the fuck is the relative that caused us these problems?" Sasuke frowned with his arms folded.

"_**We don't have time for anymore questions. Now is the time to choose one of the four weapons." **_Itachi said.

"Fine, but you're going to tell me everything else later." Sasuke sighed before turning towards the four weapons incased in four mirrors before him. "What are these for?"

"_**These are the four weapons that are famous throughout history. There were five, but the fifth one belongs to Naruto. Each holding a specific ability. The arrows will increase your speed and give you a long range, but you have nothing to defend with. The belt of knives can pierce through any armor and make you more flexible, but you won't be as fast as the one with the arrows. The staff will allow you to learn and cast any spell in record time and give you great healing powers, but you can't fight with it. The sword, however, is the most powerful when it comes to offense and defense."**_

"What's the catch for it?" Sasuke asked as he moved toward the mirror with the sword in it.

"_**You won't be able to use its complete power. This sword is special. Usually swords come individually, but this sword has a partner. Once you obtain its partner, then you can unlock its full potential. But if you don't'… then it'll only be as good to you as you are good with it."**_

Sasuke carefully observed each one. They all seemed promising, but choosing one would be the problem. "How am I supposed to choose?"

"_**Just follow your instinct. You'll make the right decision. And don't worry. I believe that whatever you decide, you'll de great with it. And plus, you'll have me as your guide."**_ Sasuke had to blink again when he thought that he saw Itachi smile. But, after his pet started talking, Sasuke would believe anything.

"You're really going to stick by me?"

"_**I have been since you were born. What makes you think I would leave now?"**_

Sasuke smirked before turning his attention back to the four weapons. They all seemed promising, but the sword is the one that kept calling his name. It's the one that felt right to him. The blade looked average length, the hilt was red with gold designs in it, with a red and gold tassel hanging from the hilt, and the seethe was pure white with red and gold design. It was the most beautiful sword Sasuke had ever seen. Every cell in his body practically screamed at him to grab the sword.

With a shaky hand, Sasuke reached forward to touch the mirror that had the sword in it. But, right when he touched the mirror, every mirror that surrounded them shattered. The teen's heart raced and his world started to spin. He felt himself fall faster. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. The only thing he was worried about was trying to stay conscious… He ended up losing that battle.

…

…

…

Sasuke groaned when he started to come around. He felt something rough touching both cheeks. Opening his eyes, Sasuke saw that he was laying on a stone floor with Itachi licking his other cheek. As he sat up, Sasuke held his head. He had a major headache. All he ever wanted was to go to bed and sleep for the rest of his life. Once his head stopped spinning, he placed his hand on Itachi's head, rubbed his fur and signed loudly.

"Where are we?" He asked as he bent his head back to look at the top of the well and stood up with his faithful feline in his arms. The ceiling looked familiar, letting Sasuke know that they were still in the shrine. "How did we get inside of the well.

"_**We fell. Don't you remember?"**_

"**THE FUCK?"** Sasuke screamed as he held Itachi out in front of him. **"SINCE WHEN DO YOU TALK?"**

"_**Sasuke… We've already been through this…"**_ Itachi sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"Huh?" Sasuke gave a questionable before following Itachi's eyes.

On the ground was a sword with a red and gold hilt and tassel incased in a white seethe with red and gold designs. Sasuke carefully put Itachi down before walking over and picking the sword up. He could feel the power coursing through his veins from the sword as he held it. It was also at that moment he started to remember everything that happened before he passed out.

Sasuke turned to Itachi. "So everything that happened earlier… was real?"

"_**Every bit of it."**_ Itachi answered back.

"If that's true… then why did you make me choose this sword? If I am just supposed to wake up Naruto, why do I need a weapon?" Sasuke asked.

"_**First of all, I didn't make you choose that sword. You choose it. Secondly, you're going to need it for later events. I don't really have time to explain right. Just please trust me on this."**_ Itachi pleaded as he walked over to Sasuke.

"I've trusted you with my life before I could even come out of the womb." Sasuke smirked as he placed the sword under his belt and picked Itachi up. "So how do we get out of here, oh great, wise and talking Itachi?"

"_**You shouldn't tease your elders, boy."**_ Itachi playfully scolded. _**"I hope you're good at rope climbing, or should I say vine climbing."**_ The cat said while climbing in Sasuke's shoulder.

"Why'd you say that?" Sasuke asked. Itachi pointed to a set of vines that were growing against the well's walls. "Oh of course." The raven sighed before grabbing hold of the vines and finding his footing. "I'll climb. Just be sure to hold on."

Itachi nodded and Sasuke was on his way up. In no time, they were out of the well and inside the shrine. Itachi hopped down from Sasuke's shoulders while said raven looked around with his hands on his hips.

"Everything looks the same as the shrine back at my house. But, if what you said was true, then we should be in the demon's world, right?"

"_**That is correct."**_ Itachi nodded as he watched Sasuke walk towards the shrine's doors and grip the handles.

"I don't know why, but a part of me wishes that you are wrong." After he said that, Sasuke practically yanked the doors open and stared at the scene with disappointment. "And of course you would be right." He sighed as Itachi moved to sit next to him.

From what they could see, they were in a clearing in the middle of a forest or something. Past a few trees you could see a village full of people moving around. It made Sasuke a little sad. All he wanted to do was go home, sleep, and wish that it was all a bad dream. So much for that option.

"_**Come on. The village is where more of your questions will be answered."**_ Itachi said before walking off.

Sasuke followed him after closing the shrine's doors with a long and depressing sigh.

…

…

…

To say that Sasuke was nervous was correct. Every villager stopped whatever they were doing to stare at them. Itachi didn't get as many weird looks as Sasuke did though.

"Why are they staring?" Sasuke asked Itachi.

"_**Remember, Sasuke. In this world, everything is old world and out of touch compared to your world. They have never seen clothes like yours before. That and the fact that you actually look like your relative that put Naruto to sleep. So, it would only make sense as to why they might be a little afraid of you. Mind you… this village, named Konoha, is where the majority -if not all- the humans reside."**_

It was true what Itachi was saying. Sasuke looked around and saw that everyone was in some type of kimono or at least has something related to it in their wardrobe. Then Sasuke looked down at his outfit. He was wearing a black wife beater, skinny jeans, black and white converse, silver, skulled belt, and black arm guards. Thank god he left his black hoodie at home or else they would've thought that he was 'Death' or something. He's still surprised that they haven't started running or screaming.

"You know. Ironically, your words aren't making me feel any better." Sasuke sighed. "Where are we going anyway?" They walked for a bit before stopping in the middle of the village. Sasuke watched as Itachi raised his nose in the air and started sniffing around. "Itachi?"

"_**They're in there."**_

"Who's in where?" Sasuke asked.

"_**Tsunade and Jiraiya. The village elders live in that hut." **_ Itachi explained before strolling in with Sasuke on his paws. _**"Tsunade. Jiraiya. I have returned and brought the one we need." **_Itachi announced.

"Well, looked what the cat brought in. Literally." A man with long white hair, orange and white fox ears and a tail, and pale skin laughed. He looked to be in his thirties to forties.

"Be nice, Jiraiya. Itachi? Is that you?" A woman with blond, hazel eyes, orange and white fox ears and a tail, and gigantic breast looked up. She looked to be in her twenties. "It's good to see you again. We've been waiting 1000 years for your return." She smiled as she stood up and walked over to them. She was about Sasuke's height, give or take an inch or two. "So you're the Uchiha that my grandson's heart has been calling out for." She leaned in, causing Sasuke to bend back a little. "Well you're cute. I'll give you that much. And you seem strong enough to handle yourself pretty well." Her hazel eyes traveled to the sword on the rave's side. "And it looks like you choose the correct weapon. You truly are the one for my grandson. Make sure that you use that sword well boy. You're going to need it."

"Why? I thought I was only supposed to wake Naruto up?" Sasuke asked.

After that was said, Itachi tensed up and only tensed harder under Tsunade's glare. "You didn't tell him the whole truth, Itachi?"

The cat's body shook with fear and regret before he finally caved. _**"I couldn't tell him everything from the beginning! If I had he wouldn't have done it! My job would've been so much harder! I'm sorry for tricking you, Sasuke! Please forgive me!"**_ Itachi shouted out while bowing down in front of the trio.

"Damnit Itachi! You weren't supposed to lie to the boy just to make your job easier!" Tsunade scolded.

"_**Well technically I didn't lie."**_

"**NOT TELLING HIM THE WHOLE TRUTH IS CONSIDERED LYING! OR DID ALL THE TIME YOU SPENT WITH THE HUMANS MAKE YOU STUPID?"**

"Tsunade, calm down. Just because you look 20 something doesn't mean that your body is as healthy as a 20 something." Jiraiya added in.

"But he~" Jiraiya just looked at the flaming woman and was able to settled her down. "Fine." She huffed before turning to glare at Itachi. _**"You better fix this, feline."**_

"**WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"** Sasuke yelled, creating an awkward silence. **"WELL?"**

"You weren't just supposed to wake Naruto up, Sasuke." Jiraiya sighed as he messed with the fire that was cooking their lunch.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. Just then, there was a loud rumble and the ground started to shake violently, causing Sasuke to fall to his knees. "What's happening?"

"_**He's calling for you."**_ Itachi stated.

"Who? Naruto?" Sasuke answered.

"He's ready to be awakened." Tsunade added.

"What now? Can't he wait until I get all of my answers?"

"No. He needs to be awakened now." Jiraiya said. They waited until it got quiet before moving. Sasuke was still on the floor and no one was moving. Jiraiya was the first to get up and move. "Follow me. We need to go to Naruto's tomb."

Everyone followed Jiraiya out of the hut and back into the forest. Sasuke was the only one being hesitant.

…

…

…

When they entered the shrine and went to the back.

"Where exactly is Naruto's tomb? I know that this shrine is a landmark for it, but where is it really?" Sasuke asked.

"It's under this shrine. Your relative that put Naruto to sleep made him unreachable to anyone but herself and the one that was destined to wake him up. This is where he has been waiting 1000 years for you to wake him up, Sasuke." Tsunade said as she walked up to him and pointed to the wall they were facing. "Touch anywhere on this wall. A door will appear to lead us to where he slumbers."

The raven was nervous and kind of excited. He would finally see the half-demon that he was connected to. Even if he really didn't give a damn, Sasuke was still curious to see what this guy even looked like. And he couldn't wait to find out. With one final gulp, Sasuke did as he was told and touched the wall. The wood felt cold and rough under his under his hand, but it reacted like Tsunade predicted. Right where his hand was, a gold trail of magic moved along the wall and created a door. Not being used to this, Sasuke jumped back a little when the door actually opened up to revile a set of stairs.

He also jumped again when Jiraiya touched his shoulder while a torch. "Come on. Naruto is this way." The older looking man smiled as he led them through the door.

Sasuke watched as the two demons disappeared while trying to calm himself down. _**"Calm down, Sasuke. If you're jumping at a door opening and a little magic, then I'm worried about your survival the rest of the time you're here." **_Itachi smirked before following the two through the door.

"You shouldn't be making jokes, Itachi. You still have a lot of explaining to do." Sasuke glared with his arms folded as he followed the trio.

…

…

…

After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the bottom of the stairs and another door. Tsunade was the one to open that door. The room was pretty spacious. There was nothing in it except an alter with four candles on it. That was the only other source of light. It was what Sasuke used to view the half-demon that he was supposed to wake up. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe with an outer layer of chains surrounding him as well. Those were also the same chains that were suspending him in mid-air. From what Sasuke could see, Naruto looked more like a mummy than anything else. But there was one thing that was bothering him. Something seemed a little off. Sasuke moved in closer to try and get a better look at it.

"_**What do you see Sasuke?"**_ Itachi asked.

Sasuke ignored the question for the time being as he continued to get closer. "His whole body is wrapped in bandages from head to toe… except his left eye… Why is only his left eye uncovered?"

"It's a long story. But, to sum it up, basically that's just a part of his wardrobe." Jiraiya spoke up. "As you know, he is a half-demon. He hates his demon heritage. So, he used to tie bandages around any marking that even reminded him of demon DNA. But, when your relative put him to sleep, she gave him the appearance of mummification. Under that outer layer of bandages and chains, is another layer of chains and bandages. She said that she did that just so he'll have something covering him when you woke him up. But, I believe that she left his left eye uncovered because that was her favorite eye. Our grandsons and their mother own the most beautiful azure eyes ever seen. Rumor has it that anyone who stares into them will be doomed to fall in love with the owner." Tsunade explained.

"Then why is only one eye uncovered and the other isn't? I thought you said that all three of them have blue eyes. And what do you mean 'grandsons'? You mean there are more?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Our son sired twin boys, but do not make the mistake of thinking that both of them are the same. Naruto maybe all powerful, like his father, but he is the younger of the two and the only one who looks like their father. In fact, he's the spitting image while his older twin, Kyuubi, is the spitting image of their mother, Kushina. Those two may also be twins, but want the opposite. They are even worse than fire and ice put together. Naruto has always wanted to be human and celebrate their mother's DNA while Kyuubi wants to become as powerful as his brother and father and transform into a full demon to celebrate their father's DNA. Those two are the most unlike twins you'll ever find. And it doesn't help that Minato likes to play favorites and tries to get Naruto to join him. He didn't really care about Kyuubi, but is willing to use him in any way he can… And Kyuubi is willing to allow it to happen. It's sickening." Jiraiya explained.

"_**If Kyuubi and Minato find out that Naruto will be awakened soon, then that could spell trouble for our side of the battle."**_ Itachi sighed in worry.

"Whoa, wait a minute. What battle? Is that what Itachi was hiding from me? I'm supposed to take part in a battle?" Sasuke asked angrily.

"_**There's more to it than that."**_ Itachi sighed again.

But, before Itachi could finish, the ground above them started to shake. The screams of people could be heard through the tomb's walls and floors.

"It sounds like a blood bath up there." Tsunade commented.

"Then let's get up there before it really turns into one." Jiraiya stated before the four of them ran up the stairs, out the shrine and back to the village.

…

…

…

"_**Where is he? Where is the one who is supposed to wake Naruto Uzumaki up? Bring him to me!" **_A female dog demon screamed as she wielded her two swords that were attached to her arms.

"Ezubaki! What are you doing here?" Jiraiya asked as he activated his own set of swords that were attached his arms and calves.

Ezubaki was an average sized female with nice curves, fair skin, purple eyes, matching kimono shirt that is opened and has long sleeves and reached the floor with a thigh high split going up the right side, covering her chest were a set of white bandages, and on her feet were blocky black sandals.

"_**A little birdie told me that the Uchiha brat that's destined to wake up Minato's youngest was finally here. That same birdie also asked me to kill him."**_ The female dog smirked.

"_**You'll have to get through us first."**_ Itachi growled before launching himself at Ezubaki.

The woman waited until he was right in her face before moving out of the way and trying to slice him. But, it didn't work, because Itachi pulled a little disappearing trick of his own and managed to scratch her face. That caused Ezubaki to stumble as she held her bleeding cheek.

"_**You fucking feline! I'll show you what happens to your kind when you piss us off!" **_She roared.

She went to attack Itachi, but he managed to get out of the way in time. She turned around to try and catch him in mid-attack, but he wasn't there. Tsunade was the one she saw running towards her with a boulder attached to her right hand. Tsunade ran top speed at the other woman before throwing the boulder at her. Ezubaki managed to flip out of the way before it hit her. But she was caught by Jiraiya and Itachi. The three battled it out. Itachi scratched, Jiraiya tried to slice, and Ezubaki tried to dice. If your eyes weren't fast enough to keep up, then you wouldn't be able to see the intensity of the battle. Tsunade joined in the fight again. She ran towards the battling trio, jumped into the air and slammed her fists into the ground, causing it to shake and vibrate. Ezubaki lost her footing a little, but she couldn't regain it fast enough to dodge Tsunade's kick to her ribs. With the force behind her kick, Tsunade managed to send her flying into a tree. That very same tree cracked in half. The top part of the tree fell on top of her. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see if she would get up. She got up and looked beyond pissed too. Everyone shook at the dangerous aura that surrounded her. They could've sworn that black flames were engulfing her hand before she took off running towards them. Just like Tsunade, Ezubaki jumped into the air before pounding her fist into the ground. The force of the impact blew everyone back. Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Tsunade hit the ground hard while Itachi practically broke his back against the tree.

"She's stronger than I remember." Jiraiya grunted as he got up.

"Too strong for us to handle. Sasuke, you have to wake up Naruto. If you don't, then we're all doomed. Go and take Itachi with you!" Tsunade yelled.

"What about you guys?" Sasuke asked as he picked up an unconscious Itachi off the base of a tree.

"We'll handle her! Now go!" The older couple yelled before they moved to fight Ezubaki again.

Sasuke only nodded and started sprinted towards Naruto's tomb.

…

…

…

Sasuke reopened the door, ran down the stairs and came face to face with the half-demon again. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he had to do something before Tsunade and Jiraiya winded up dead. He got in Naruto's face, smacked him, pinched his nose, punched him, and even hit him in the head with his sword, but nothing worked. Naruto was still sleeping and refused to wake. Sasuke panicked. He was running out of time and Naruto still wasn't waking up. He felt so frustrated.

He groaned as he walked over to the alter with the candles on them. He felt anger boil inside of him until he let it out. **"WHY WONT YOU WAKE UP?" **Sasuke screamed as he slammed his hand onto the alter.

Just as Sasuke's hand touched the center of the alter, it started to glow red before a trail of red glowing markings made a trail leading towards Naruto. It traveled up his body and stopped at his chest before they dissolved into his body. After a few seconds, a transparent Uchiha fan appeared and released Naruto from the outer layer of chains and bandages. Once he was free, Sasuke could see that Naruto was taller than him, 6'2 at least even though he was slouching, still covered in bandages and had chains on his wrists, and had a very toned and muscular body. One thing that Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off was Naruto's dazed blue eye. It made Sasuke scared to move, almost. But, right when he was about to speak, Naruto moved at lightning speed and before Sasuke could speak… he felt Naruto's bandaged lips on his. It felt so gross, weird, but yet strangely arousing at the same time. But, before Sasuke could even get a chance to fully comprehend, Naruto scooped him and Itachi into his arms and raced out of the tomb with the same lightning speed he just used.

…

…

…

Back on the field, Tsunade and Jiraiya were still standing against Ezubaki, but barely. She allowed more of those black flames to engulf her arm again before she performed the same attack. Only this time, both Jiraiya and Tsunade cracked their bones against a thick branch.

"_**Had enough? What a shame. You two are supposed to be the proud parents of Minato Namikaze and the Uzumaki Twins. One would think that you'd put up more of a fight. Oh well. I'll just end you two and kill that Uchiha brat before he gets a chance to wake up Naruto." **_She laughed evilly.

Ezubaki was too busy laughing at Tsunade and Jiraiya to notice Naruto approaching her until it was too late. He silenced her laughing with his hand jabbed into her chest. She looked down with wide eyes at the bandaged arm sticking out of her chest.

"_**You're awake?"**_ She grunted before Naruto pulled out his hand, causing her to fall to the ground in death.

Naruto still held a dazed look in his eye as he stared at the dead dog below him.

Tsunade and Jiraiya carefully got up and walked over to Naruto, making sure to stop a few feet in front of him. "Naruto…?"

The bandaged man's eyes shot up to look at the older fox demon couple for a few minutes. Once those minutes were up, life returned to the blue eye and everything inside his head started working again.

"Tsunade…? Jiraiya…?" He grunted out. Both were too excited to contain it, so they hugged him fiercely. "Could… you two… please let me… go?"

"Oh sorry…" They apologized before letting him go.

"How do you feel, Kit?" Jiraiya asked.

"Like I'm about to faint… How did I get free…?" Naruto grunted out harder as he held his head.

His headache was becoming too great for him to withstand. He had just woken up and his brain isn't able to comprehend or allow him to stay awake for very long. He was already on the verge of collapsing as it is.

"Sasuke was the one that woke you up." Tsunade smiled.

Naruto gave a questionable look before looking up and seeing the raven holding an injured Itachi. Even though Naruto was on the verge of collapsing, he could put two and two together… And the fact that he was able to do that pissed him off.

Naruto ran a hand over his covered face slowly. "You're an Uchiha… Fuck my life…" Was all he said before finally falling onto the cool, hard ground.

Sasuke only walked over to the trio and looked down at the unconscious half-demon before screaming: **"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"**

**...**

**To be continued…**

**Next time on 'Timers'…**

Sasuke was able to wake Naruto up, but will they be able to survive being with each other?


	3. I Can't Work With Him

**Warnings for This Chapter: **No special warnings. Character introduction.

**Last Time on Timers:**

"_How do you feel, Kit?" Jiraiya asked._

"_Like I'm about to faint… How did I get free…?" Naruto grunted out harder as he held his head._

_His headache was becoming too great for him to withstand. He had just woken up and his brain isn't able to comprehend or allow him to stay awake for very long. He was already on the verge of collapsing as it is._

"_Sasuke was the one that woke you up." Tsunade smiled._

_Naruto gave a questionable look before looking up and seeing the raven holding an injured Itachi. Even though Naruto was on the verge of collapsing, he could put two and two together… And the fact that he was able to do that pissed him off._

_Naruto ran a hand over his covered face slowly. "You're an Uchiha… Fuck my life…" Was all he said before finally falling onto the cool, hard ground._

_Sasuke only walked over to the trio and looked down at the unconscious half-demon before screaming: __**"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"**_

**On With the New Chapter**

**Chapter 2: I Can't Work With Him**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

I felt the sun shining on my face, causing me to flinch at it.

"_I must've left the curtains open again. I have to stop doing that." _I mentally groan before rolling over and stretching out my stiff body.

I was strangely uncomfortable, but really warm at the same time. The warmth was what I actually enjoyed. It felt comfortable, but for some reason, I got the sense on anger coming from it. I was confused, but didn't really think on it. I just reached down and tried to pull the covers over me. But, when I did, there were none there for me to grab onto.

"_I must've kicked them off in the middle of the night. Oh Well. I'll just get them later."_

I was too lazy to really get up and retrieve my covers. Plus, it was a Saturday. After this exhausting week, I deserve to sleep in, and covers weren't going to stop that… But something else did.

I thought I was crazy. I heard someone stretching besides me.

"_There's no one that could be in the bed with me, so it has to be Itachi right?"_

That's what I told myself. Itachi sleeps with me all the time and is usually the one waking me up when he stretches. But, this time he sounded different. His voice sounded more mature and deeper, almost like a roar. I had thought that he only sounded different because his talking abilities were finally exposed, but it still sounded too off for it to be Itachi. Out of curiosity, I cracked one of my eyes open and instantly regretted it.

There was a man wrapped in all bandages sitting next to me with his blue eye wide. I was trying to figure out who he was, but it didn't click. Suddenly… all the memories from yesterday came flooding back and I started to scream.

**SCREAM**

We both screamed while staring at each other. Naruto Uzumaki, the most powerful half-demon, was laying in my bed and screaming back at me. The screaming match between us didn't last long. As I kept screaming, started backing up until I fell off a step on the floor, which was odd to me… I've never had step in the middle of my floor.

I stopped screaming because I hit my head on the ground. I guess Naruto stopped screaming because I stopped.

I groaned as I rubbed the back of my head. "Alright, what are you doing in my bed?" I asked.

"You're bed? This is my bed!" He yelled back with on finger pointing at me and his uncovered blue eye narrowed in anger.

I gave him a confused look before looking around. I was in a hut. There was a piece of wooden ground with a cloth where we were laying, some animal fur along the wall and in a corner, and my sword at the beginning of the cloth, where our heads were laying. Behind me was an opening covered by a piece of flowing cloth and a window that looks like it's been cut out.

"This isn't my room. It's not even my house." I stated.

"Duh. It's my room. So if you don't mind leaving, that would be great. I would like for it to stay Uchiha free." His expression didn't change as he rolled over and had his back facing me with one of his legs propped up and his hand holding his head up.

I groaned and rolled my eyes before looking behind me when I heard the cloth, in the doorway, move.

"It's good to see that both of you are finally up. Although, I don't think the other villagers appreciate you two waking them up by screaming bloody murder." Jiraiya laughed.

"What are you doing here? And where's Itachi?" I asked while sitting up.

"He's right here." Tsunade smiled as walked through the opening and handed me Itachi. "He's going to be alright. He has a few broken bones and he was bleeding internally, but I used my healing powers to fix him as good as new. Just makes sure that he doesn't move around too much."

I took him and nodded a thank you to the older demon couple.

"I'm glad that Itachi's all fine and dandy, but could one of you _**please**_ tell me why there's an Uchiha here and why was he sleeping in my bed?" Naruto asked in a rude tone. He was now facing us, but he's still in the same position.

"I see that you didn't learn any new manors while you were sleeping." Tsunade sighed.

"Nope." Naruto answered.

"Sasuke, do you remember anything that we told you last night?" Jiraiya asked me .

After thinking about it, the memories started flowing back to me. I nodded at his question.

"Well since I wasn't there, would someone please enlighten me on why I still sense his presence? I mean, he did his job right? He woke me up, so shouldn't he be going home now? He's pretty much useless now. I see no reason to keep a weak human around, especially since I don't like him." Naruto rudely said.

"Please forgive my grandson's tone. He's always been a brat and I see now that that's not going to change." Tsunade glared at Naruto, who only shrugged his shoulders. "Sasuke was not only brought here to wake you up, but he was also brought here to help you win the war."

"Wait a second. I remember you guys telling me that I was supposed to be participating in a war, but you never told me what it was about." I said.

"It's a war between my father, brother, and myself." Naruto answered causing everyone to turn and look at him. "Long story short, this war is about revenge. My father is a sadist tyrant that needs to be put down along with my kiss-ass of a brother. I have to lead my side of the army, but I don't see why I need _**him**_." Naruto growled with his finger pointing at me.

"Hey, believe me, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here." I snapped back without looking at him.

"Cool it you two." Jiraiya ordered. Both Naruto and I looked at each other before huffing and looking away, causing Tsunade and Jiraiya to sigh in frustration. "It is true that Sasuke's job was to wake you up and participate in the war, but there's reason as to why he's here. It's because he's the next Uchiha heir."

"I'm the next heir of my clan? No, no, no, no, that can't be right. I'm not the next heir for anything. Itachi, tell them that they're wrong." I said looking down at my pet cat.

"_**Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow." He spoke. I looked at him with wide eyes before he started laughing. "Haha. Naw, I'm just fucking with you, but what they're saying is true Sasuke. You are the next heir of the Uchiha clan. Now being the next heir doesn't mean that you're going to lead your clan on some secret mission or anything. It just means that whoever bears the mark that you bear is meant to do great things." **_Itachi stated.

"What, what mark?" I asked.

"_**The mark on your left shoulder blade is the Uchiha Fan. It's been the clan's symbol since the days of when demons and humans used to co-exist. It was said that whoever had the mark was destined for great things and were typically treated better than the ones who didn't bear it. It is also said that the mark had been lost for three generations. I'm puzzled as to why it's now appearing. Could it have something to do with Minato?"**_

"Tsk. Figures my father would try to aggravate me more by using an Uchiha in his plans for me." Naruto huffed.

"It would only make sense, I mean he did ask the Uchiha clan to watch over you and asked the heir to wake you up." Jiraiya nodded before turning towards Sasuke. "May I see your mark?"

"Sure I guess." I shrugged.

Once I removed my black wife beater, Jiraiya moved to observe it. I felt his cold hands touch my back, sending shivers down my back. But, the feel of Naruto's gaze on me was what I paid attention to the most. I knew that hate was the only emotion behind his eyes, but part of me thought I sensed something close to lust there too.

"_I mean, he has been waiting for me to wake him up for year. That must explain the hint of lust I was sensing from him, right?"_

"It's the real deal alright. Sasuke Uchiha, you are the next heir to the Uchiha clan and are also meant to help Naruto lead his army against Minato, Kyuubi, and their army. Congratulations. So now that that is out of the way, let's start planning your strategy." Jiraiya smiled.

"Oh hell no. I don't know if you guys remember, but it was an Uchiha that placed me under that stupid sleeping spell. Now, knowing that, someone please explain to me why I would even dream of working with him?" Naruto asked while moving to sit in and upright position.

"It's because you _**need**_ him, Naruto. Sasuke will become a key role in this war. You can't just toss him aside when you know that you need him." Tsunade explained.

"I _**don't **_need him. I can fight this war without him or anyone on else. I will bring down my old man and my kiss-ass son with one hand tied behind my back." Naruto huffed with his arms crossed.

"_**When are you going to stop acting like a brat and just do as we said for once?"**_ Itachi sighed.

"_**I **_absolutely _**REFUSE**_ to work with this… _**Uchiha**_." Naruto sneered.

"Yeah. I'd rather stick my head in acid before _**EVER**_ agreeing to work with _**HIM**_!" I yelled as I pointed at Naruto.

Tsunade gave a long, harsh sigh before moving to smack both of us in our heads. "Stop it. I don't care what you two _**REFUSE **_to do. This is both of your destinies, so you two have to suck it up and deal with it until the end. Got it!" She yelled in our faces.

Naruto and I looked at each other for a little while before turning away in a huff and with our arms crossed. "Fine." We both mumbled.

"Good, so you ready to find out your strategy?" Jiraiya asked with a smile.

"You already have a plan?" Naruto asked.

"You don't?" The older fox demon asked.

"I was just going to rush into the house, kick their ass, bring you Minato's head, and spend the rest of my life alone." Naruto shrugged.

I turned to look at him with a questionable look. "That's your plan?"

"I didn't say it was a good one. And besides, it seemed like a good plan to me." He answered.

"I fear for our troops if _**you're **_leading them with this half-cocked plan of yours." I sighed.

"_**Do you want to take this outside, Uchiha?"**_ He growled at me.

"_**I'm not afraid of you, half-breed."**_ I glared back.

That was a complete lie. I really was terrified of him. I mean, he's basically the prince of demons and one of the most powerful half-demons alive. So of course I was afraid, but I didn't want to show it to him. I just hoped that he can't sense it.

Tsunade moved to knock us in our heads again. Both of us groaned as we rubbed the sore parts of our heads. "Why don't you go bathe. I have your clothes in our hut. Go to the river, bathe and come back here so we can tell you the first part to help you win this war." Tsunade ordered. Naruto held a glaring match with her for a few seconds before sighing in defeat and getting up to do what she ordered. When he was out of the hut, Tsunade gave a sigh of her own. "I swear. That boy is just as hardheaded and stubborn as his mother, which I guess is better than being an arrogant bastard, like his father and brother."

"What's his deal? I mean, why does he act that way?" I asked.

"It's because of his father and his brother. Minato is the leader of all the demons. He's also my son, and he's also an arrogant bastard with a sense of invisibility and power. He's been that way since he was born. Even as an infant, he expected everyone to bow to his will and weigh on him hand and foot. And they did. All the other kids, both human and demon, would follow him around and do whatever he said whenever he said it. The only reason he was able to move all of us to this world is because everyone here, including Tsunade and me, had to follow our king." Jiraiya explained.

"So basically Minato's been acting like a king since he first opened his eyes. That's wonderful. But, that doesn't explain the reason as to why this war is happening." I said.

"_**It's about the amount of hatred he has for those two. It started with the fire that happened when he was five. When they first came out of the womb, you could tell that both of them were different, despite being twins. When Minato would try to hold Naruto, he would cry, scream, and act up. When Kushina would try and hold Kyuubi he would do the same. And, because of this, Minato had to move the twins and their mother into another manor outside of his compound. He couldn't rule this world when both twins were crying all the time. Naruto, Kyuubi, and Kushina stayed in the manor for five years. Kyuubi was the one that kept crying for Minato. Kushina couldn't handle it anymore and eventually sent Kyuubi to live with Minato. Everything was fine. But, when Kyuubi turned two, Minato sent Kyuubi to live with his mother and brother again. He didn't want the twins to grow up without each other, or at least that's what he told people. The real reason he sent Kyuubi there was so that he could learn to get as strong as Naruto. Minato started playing favoritism since he discovered that Naruto was the most powerful twin. Kyuubi was strong, but it was Naruto's strong aura that shined through. He wanted Kyuubi to be as strong as Naruto so that he could have to most powerful sons in this world. But he never learned. Kyuubi remained weaker than Naruto, despite any training he did on his own. The two of them never got along. The only one praising him was Kushina, but he didn't want it. Minato was the only one he cared about pleasing. At the age of five, Kyuubi finally had a breakdown. While Naruto was out getting firewood, Kyuubi trapped Kushina in the manor and set fire to it. Naruto tried to save her, but it was too late. They fought, but Kyuubi managed to get away, but barely. Kyuubi escaped to Minato while Naruto ran to us. Tsunade and Jiraiya have been taking care of him ever since." **_Itachi informed.

"Wow. So his five year old twin killed their mother in a fire? Why?" I asked.

"Just like Naruto hates his demon side, Kyuubi hates his human side. He thinks humans are weak and blames his mom for why he's so much weaker than Naruto. Kyuubi looks just like Kushina if she were a guy. Because of this, Kyuubi believes that he inherited her human side more than Minato's demon side. And since Naruto looks exactly like Minato, Kyuubi thinks that he inherited 90% of his demon side. Hence the reason Kyuubi despises him and Naruto despises Kyuubi." Tsunade explained.

"Ok, so that explains why he hates Kyuubi. But, why does he hate Minato?" I questioned.

"_**It's because he kidnapped him." **_Itachi added.

"Kidnapped him?" I said in awe.

"_**Yes. One day, we sent Naruto out to get some firewood… But, he never came back… It wasn't until a few years later… we found out that Minato kidnapped him. Now, as for what he did to him during that time… He never told us, but whatever happened must've been bad."**_

"How do ya figure that, Itachi?" I asked.

"_**Because, when he finally came back to us… he was barely alive."**_ Itachi answered with a shiver. It must've been from the memory.

"_Damn."_ Was all that ran through my mind after I heard that story.

"Because his twin brother killed their mother in a fire and whatever Minato did to him during his capture, Naruto wants to declare war?" I asked.

"_**Basically."**_

"Ok, so what's going to happen after this war? Is he going to become the new king?" I questioned with Itachi sitting in my lap and my arms folded.

"He does not enjoy his demon side, so my guess is that once the war is over there won't be a king for us to follow. Minato will be our only king, Kushina was our only queen, and Naruto and Kyuubi will be our only princes. That's how the royal bloodline will end, and we're fine with that?" Jiraiya informed.

"So you guess are actually ok with not having someone to rule you? I thought that once you guess get used to having a king, you'll have to find someone else to rule you or else chaos will reign." I said.

"There are some who need to have a ruler to function. If they don't, then they will go insane and cause some problems. But, demons like that are weak and will die out soon before they even get a chance to populate. No need to worry about them." Tsunade answered.

I nodded at the information that was told to me while taking it all in. I found the answers I was looking for, but the person involved with my destiny was someone I was **NOT **looking forward to working with. But, I guess the faster I do this, the faster I can get this over with. But, there was one question on my mind that I had to just ask.

"One last question… who is my relative that put Naruto to sleep?" I asked.

They looked at each other with nervousness before looking back at me.

"That is a question for you to find out along the way." Jiraiya said.

"You can't just give me a hint? I can't know anything?" I questioned with a hint of anger. "I mean, I have a right to know. Don't I?"

"_**The only thing I can tell you is that all of your relatives are human and remained on your side of the well."**_ Itachi answered.

"If that's true, then how in the hell did she get over here?" I asked out of curiosity.

"We're still trying to find that out. All we know is that one day, she managed to find the portal that Minato created all those years ago and figured out how to open it. She appeared in our world one day. I was the one to find her and we took her in and she lived with us for a few years. Naruto and she clicked soon after her arrival and they started dating. While she was here, we taught her how to use magic and adapt to our way of life. That was one of the worst decisions we've made. She learned a little too well and when Naruto dumped her, she put him to sleep and made it so that his one true love could release him… We're trying to figure out if she knows that it's you." Tsunade explained. "There's no doubt in my mind she'll find out eventually and come looking for you guys."

"How long do you think until then?" I questioned.

"_**Hopefully never."**_ A deep and angry voice spoke from the hut's opening. We looked up to see Naruto standing there in his new outfit and a narrowed blue eye. _**"If I can, I would like to NEVER see HER again."**_

I tried to hide the blush that started to creep on my face. Naruto was now fully clothed instead of wearing bandages. There were still bandages wrapped around his face and neck, leaving his right blue eye exposed. He wore a long black cloak that reached his calves, had no sleeves, orange trimming, and an orange fox design on the back. The cloak was left opened. And if you looked close enough, then you could see almost every outline of his toned body. I was actually happy to see that his whole body wasn't going to be wrapped in bandages. His arms were healthily tanned and filled with enough muscle to make him attractive. His left fist was wrapped in bandages too, but not his fingers. I could see his long, sharp claws. His pants were black with bandages at the end and started where his torso bandages ended. On his feet were black open-toed sandals that reached the end of the bandages at the end of his pants. The last thing I noticed was a blue crystal necklace around his neck. It was very pretty, but I could sense some power coming from it.

"What's that necklace for?" I asked.

"_**None of your business."**_ He growled as he closed the cloth in front of the hut's door and moved to sit where his bed was.

"_**Naruto! Be nice."**_ Tsunade glared, causing the half-demon to snort in defiance. "That necklace, Sasuke, was mine. It's designed to heal the sick and wounded. Now that I have the power to do that on my own, I gave it to Naruto help control his ravenous demon side." She answered.

"Way to fix another problem _**your son**_ caused, Granny." Naruto snorted again.

Tsunade started to growl, but Jiraiya stepped in and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You know how he is and know that he won't ever change. Don't stress yourself over it." That calmed the blond fox female a little. "Now, as for you two… I have a mission for you."

"What _**kind **_of mission? It better not be anything that includes doing 'research'." I gave a questionable look to Naruto, who only rolled his eyes. "He writes porn."

"What I _**DO**_ is write novels that study the female anatomy and the reaction an male has with said anatomy."

"**IT'S PORN!"** Naruto and Tsunade yelled in unison.

"**IS NOT!"** Jiraiya yelled back.

"Whatever you say, old man." Naruto chuckled.

Jiraiya sighed with his hand over his face. "That's beside the point. What's important is that you complete this mission."

"What is it?" I asked.

"_**We have to go to the Lost Forest of Soul Sucking Spiders to retrieve Naruto's Sword of Fire."**_ Itachi informed.

"We? Oh no. _**Naruto and I **_will go to get his sword while _**you**_ stay here. And that's final." I commanded as I stood up and grabbed my sword. Turning back to Itachi and seeing his face was what made me weak in the knees. His eyes were all wide and his face just looked so… sad. I tried to be strong, but that look was deadly… and my sneaky feline friend knew it. "Alright fine. You can come, but if you get hurt that'll be on you. Come on." I opened my arms and caught him when he ran into them.

"Hn. You Uchihas are so weak. It's going to get you killed." Naruto snorted before getting up and following me out the hut. "We'll be back."

Once we were out of the hut I put my sword in place and helped Itachi onto my shoulder. "In order to get your sword we have to go to the Lost Forest of Sou Sucking Spiders… sounds fun… So um… do you know how to get there?"

"Just follow me and shut up. The more you don't talk, the more this time I'm forced to spend with you will be more enjoyable." Naruto sighed angrily.

"Damn. All I asked was if you knew the way. I didn't need to be snapped at." I replied back.

"Let's get one thing straight _**Uchiha**_… I don't nor will I ever _**'like'**_ you, so stay out of my way. I don't need to be babysitting some weak _**Uchiha**_ human brat… _**Got it**_?" Naruto glared hard at Sasuke, who just glared back.

"Look. I didn't ask for any of this and I damn sure didn't ask to be the one who had to wake your sorry ass up. So drop the unnecessary attitude. It's not needed." I said as I walked passed him.

I almost stopped in my tracks when I heard his deep voice chuckle. "No one has ever talked back before… This should be interesting…"

…

…

…

The walk was silent, but it went on for hours. I felt a little hot and sweat started dripping from my face. We had stopped to get some water a while back, but I wish I had some more.

"_If I ever make it back to my world, I'm bringing a bunch of water bottles."_

I used the back of my hand to whip away some sweat before stopping. I started sensing another powerful being, other than Naruto, and he was heading this way.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Uchiha." I turned to see that Naruto had stopped with his back towards me. "He's just an old friend o mine. He's as harmless as a fly. But he's more of a stalker than a friend… Isn't that right… Kiba?" Although I couldn't see it, I could tell that Naruto was smirking.

I gave a confused look when no one appeared and Itachi jumped from my shoulders. That's when it hit me… literally. Something heavy landed on my back and pretty much crushed my body into the hard, dirt ground.

"Yo! Naruto, my main man, where have you been?" I heard a voice speak, but I couldn't look up since the heavy thing was still on my back.

"What are you doing here Kiba?" Naruto sighed in an annoyed tone.

"I was just taking Akamaru out for some exercise and then I sensed a power that could only belong to my best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. So, I decided to drop in." Kiba laughed.

"I can see that. And I can also see that you dropped right on someone." Naruto stated.

I guess Kiba must've noticed what he said. "Haha. Sorry. Akamaru, get off of the human." Whatever was named Akamaru moved off of me, finally. I tried to catch my breath with a hand on my chest. Kiba bent down and offered his hand, which I gladly took.

With no effort, Kiba hosted me to my feet. I managed to get a good look at Kiba and decided that he looked more like a wolf than anything else. His hair was spiked in all directions and looked like a large mane that touched his shoulders. He didn't have a shirt, exposing his tanned tone torso and arms. He wore black pants with white bandages at the ends and black opened toed sandals. On his back was a gray wolf's fur tied around his neck by its two front legs. His eyes are black as night and in the shape of slits. His teeth and nails are long and sharp, just like fangs and claws. On top of his head were two brown wolf ears and a brown tail could be seen waging under his wolf's pelt. Like I said, he looks more like a wolf than anything.

"Sorry about dropping in on you. I know you must be sore from having the combined weight of Akamaru and me on you this whole time." Kiba laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"Akamaru?" I asked.

"This is Akamaru." He said while scratching a wolf's ears.

The wolf had the most beautiful white coat I had ever seen. There were little brown spots on his fur and his eyes looked just like Kiba's midnight black slits. The only thing that made me slightly scared is that Akamaru is twice the size of any wolf on my side of the well.

"_**I see you not only kept your wolf, but you've been feeding it as well."**_ Itachi said as he sat next to my feet.

"Itachi! How's my main feline friend?" Kiba smiled as he moved to pick Itachi up and hug him to his chest.

"You know Itachi?" I asked?

"Oh yeah. Everyone here knows Itachi. He's the most famous cat in this world. Although he did disappear about 1000 years ago. Hey, come to think of it…" He placed Itachi down and turned to Naruto. "That's the same time you disappeared as well." Naruto didn't say anything. "So… where have you been?"

"I was put to sleep for 1000 years by an _**Uchiha**_." Naruto growled as he looked at me.

It hurt a little bit, but I just brushed it off and didn't really pay attention to it.

"Wait! You mean that sexy raven haired girl you were dating? Dude. I never thought that that _**she**_…"

"Well _**she **_did. And I would appreciate it if we just drop the subject." Naruto glared before turning to walk away, causing Kiba, Itachi, Akamaru, and I all followed.

"Fair enough. So, tell me. You're back in action, right? And so is the war?" Kiba asked.

"You got it, but first… I have to go to Sakura's Forest to retrieve my sword." Naruto said.

"Cool. Can Akamaru and I tag along?" Kiba asked.

"As long as you don't annoy me." Naruto answered.

"Same Naruto. Gone for 1000 years and he still has that charming attitude." Kiba smirked while shaking his head before turning to me. "So. What's your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." I replied.

"Ah. No wonder I sense Naruto's animosity towards you and why you look so much like her. It's actually kind of ironic that Naruto would be traveling with someone from the same clan as _**her**_. Ha. Maybe you're starting to get a thing for Uchihas, huh Naruto?" Kiba laughed. "Who know that you would start dating another Uchiha so fast after K~"

Kiba was cut off when Naruto turned around, grabbed him by his neck, and threw him against the nearest tree. When Kiba collided with the tree, the force Naruto sent him flying with made the tree shatter. That scared me. Naruto has quite the temper when it comes to my family. Even after he threw Kiba into the tree, Naruto was still glaring and growling.

"_**During the rest of the time I'm forced to be with you, I don't want to EVER hear HER name… EVER AGAIN…"**_ Naruto dangerously growled before turning away and continuing on.

Akamaru, Itachi, and I went over to make sure that Kiba was alright.

"I'm fine." He grunted as he got up. "He has thrown me into harder things. I'm used to it." He laughed while he dusted himself off. "Let's follow him before he gets too far ahead. One negative about traveling with Naruto… He'll leave you and doesn't care who you are."

After Kiba's statement, I started getting the impression that I better start keeping up or else Naruto will leave me along in this world. I was in the back of my group with Itachi at my side, using this as the perfect opportunity to ask my question.

"Kiba said that everyone here knows you, right? So that must mean that, before you came to my world, you lived here, right? Which makes you a demon, correct? So I just have to know… How old are you?"

Itachi kept walking beside me without answering any of my questions. The only thing he did do was turn his head towards me with, what I guess is, a smirk on his face. "That's a conversation for another day."

…

…

…

That walk wasn't too quiet. I guess Kiba is one of those people who don't like to travel quietly. "So anyway, I feel like I didn't introduce myself properly. My name is Kiba Inuzuka. I am the prince of the wolf demons. My sister is the queen. And this is Akamaru. He's been my best friend since I was a new born. My sister said that from the moment Akamaru was introduced into my life, we connected instantly. He's the fastest wolf alive, which comes in handy during combat. And, I know that it may not be normal to you, but despite me looking about 16-18, I'm actually as old as Naruto. Every demon here ages differently. What seems like 10 years to you humans is actually 1000 years to us. We age faster because our life span is basically limitless." Kiba explained. I was just taking everything Kiba said in before turning towards Naruto. He kept walking and hasn't said anything since he threw Kiba into that tree… two hours ago. "Don't worry about him. Naruto has a bit of a temper, likes to be alone, has an attitude, and isn't too fond of you, but you get used to it. Surprisingly enough… he has tons of friends." He laughed.

"Kiba, shut up." Naruto said suddenly.

"What? I was only speaking the truth." Kiba replied back.

"No, I mean shut up. We're here." Naruto stated.

I looked up and started feeling uncomfortable. There were spider webs everywhere and it was completely dark. The forest was defiantly a habitat for spiders. But, there was something I wanted to know. "Why is the first part of this forest's name Lost?"

"Because whoever steps foot in this forest has to make nice with Sakura, queen of the spiders. If they don't, then they become 'lost'." Naruto explained. "Which is usually hard to do."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because she's a bitch." Kiba added.

We walked a little further into the forest until we were stopped by three giant spiders.

_**Halt! Who goes there!" **_One spider said after lowering their selves to the ground.

"I demand you take us to see Sakura, _**now**_!" Naruto growled.

The spider looked at Naruto before turning their back towards us. _**"If you want to see the queen, then you must ride on our backs."**_ One spider stated.

Naruto, Itachi, Akamaru, and Kiba all hopped on with no problem, but I couldn't do it. "I don't really feel comfortable riding on a spider." I said.

"Stop being a pussy and just get on." Naruto sighed in an aggravated tone.

"No." I said before crossing my arms and turning away.

"Fine, then stay here, alone until we get back." Naruto said and knew what he was doing when he said it.

I thought about it before hopping on one of the spiders. Once I was one, we hastily rose into the air. Once we were high enough, they started running as fast as their eight legs could carry them and us. It was a rush, but I was still a little uncomfortable with the feeling of the spider's hair between my fingers. After a few minutes, we finally reached a throne room lit by candles. There were white webs surrounding the interior of the room. There were also portraits of the same pink haired woman along the wall, leading to the throne.

"She's a bit of a narcissus." Kiba said, causing me to nod.

"_**Your majesty. You have guests."**_ A spider said.

"I'll be right down." A woman's voice sung. We waited until a woman descended down on top of a spider.

When she was on the floor, we could see that she was dressed in a long, red, sleeveless qipao dress with white trimming and designs, thigh high slits on both sides, white elbow high, fingerless gloves, white knee black knee high open-toed sandals. Her hair was the obnoxious color pink, tied into multiple buns on top of her head, and two long bangs framing her face. On top of her head was a gold crown with a red jewel in the shape of a spider. In her hand was a long staff that matched her crown. Her eyes were shining with emerald green irises.

"So who has the honor of visiting the beautiful Queen Sakura?" She said in a soft voice.

"Where's my sword?" Naruto bluntly asked.

"Naruto-kun!" She shrieked before latching herself onto him.

Naruto's expression looked annoyed and bored as he rubbed his bandaged face. I could tell that she wasn't really his favorite female, but something within me felt a little angry when she hugged him close and tried to kiss on him. I don't know if that's how she acts, but it's not really the way to act.

"I was so sad to hear that that _**bitch **_put you to sleep. I told you that she was no good. You should've dated me. I would've never had put a sleeping spell on you." She tried to pout cutely while battling her long eyelashes. That's when she turned to me and her eyes started to shine. She squealed as she bounced over to me and hugged Itachi and me to her flat chest. "It's good to see you again, Itachi. You're just as cute as ever!"

"_**It's good to see you again, Sakura." **_Itachi grunted out as he tried to escape.

"And who are you? I like you already. You're really cute." She tried to flirt.

Itachi and I managed to get out of her hold before I spoke. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." I stated.

"Aw. You're an Uchiha too? Well, at least you're cute, so I approve." She smiled while turning towards Naruto. "I like the new one you're dating."

"That's what I said." Kiba smiled.

Her mood completely changed when Kiba spoke. It seemed as if she didn't like him at all. "Oh. When did you get here?"

"I've been here! How could you not notice?" Kiba yelled.

"Oh yeah. I thought I smelled something foul in the air. I thought I told you that you weren't welcomed here?" Akamaru made a noise, causing her mood to brighten up. "It's always a pleasure to see you, Akamaru." She smiled as she rubbed the wolf's head.

"See what I mean." Kiba huffed in my ear.

"_**What was that?"**_ She growled.

"On nothing, but there is something I've been wondering… You've known that _**she**_ put Naruto to sleep 1000 years ago, right? So why in the hell didn't you tell me?" Kiba yelled.

"I don't like you, remember." Sakura glared.

"But, you shouldn't have kept that from me!" Kiba shouted back.

"You're annoying me. Guards! It's time for lunch! How does a nice wolf demon sound?" She sung.

Suddenly, the same three spider guards entered the room and tried to go after Kiba.

"Sakura! Call off your spiders and let's talk business." Naruto commanded with a glared of his own.

"Commanding, stern, a great business man, and handsome. You're just a threat all around." She said while licking her lips. Naruto didn't move an inch. "Fine. Guards down. There is some other prey in the dining room for you." She said, causing the spiders to retreat. Once they were gone, Sakura moved to sit on her throne. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Naruto needs~"

"Zip it wolf. You're lucky Naruto saved your ass. I can still add you onto the menu." She glared, causing Kiba to shut up.

"I need my sword back. I heard to have it." Naruto said calmly.

"Oh that old thing? Yeah… that _**bitch**_ dropped it off after she put you to sleep. I was surprised at how big it was… just like I was surprised at how big you were." She winked.

"Gag me." Kiba whispered next to me.

"She said that if you ever came here looking for it to not give it to you. But, I never liked that bitch so go ahead and take it. It's in my Treasure Room. But, be warned Naruto-kun… my guardian is just as stubborn and as violent as you. That's why he's the best guardian I have. You should have fun." She smirked before using her staff to open her Treasure Room door.

With a 'thank you' we walked through the door only to come face to face with a spider-hybrid. His top half looked like a human while the bottom half was a spider's bottom. In his hand was a long and dangerous-looking spear.

"_**I am Hakuku, guardian of the Treasure Room. State your business here, worthless infidels." **_ He said in a deep voice.

"Sakura said I can come here and get my sword. So, give it here." Naruto glared.

"_**I receive no such order from the queen. Because of this, I cannot let you pass." **_Hakuku stated while spinning his spear around.

"_**Do you not know who I am? I am Naruto Uzumaki, the person that will take down the tyrant we all know as Minato Namikaze! And I will NOT let some arachnid stand in my way!"**_ Naruto roared as he moved to stand in a fighting pose.

"_**I do not care if you are the son of the Great Demon King! I am guardian here, and I say that the only way you're getting anything from me is over my cold, dead, lifeless body!" **_Hakuku roared back, also readying himself for the fight about to take place.

"Damn Naruto. This guy really is just as stubborn as you. How are you going to beat him?" Kiba asked.

"Why don't you just shut up for once." Naruto sighed in an aggravated tone.

"Hey, I was just askin'. How do you expect me to help you fight if you don't~" And just like that, Hakuku released a web that attached Kiba to the wall and added another one to go over his mouth.

"_**Now that's just mean."**_ Itachi said.

I heard the whimpers coming from Akamaru and bent down to rub his ears. "Can you go help Kiba down while we take care of Hakuku?" I asked in a gentle voice.

The wolf nodded before going to assist Kiba. I took out my sword before moving to stand by Naruto's side.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked with a glare.

"What does it look like? I'm going to help you kick this spider's ass." I answered without looking at him.

"You're nothing but a weak Uchiha human. You'll die before you get a chance to even get near him." Naruto argued back. "No. If you're supposed to be helping me win this war, then you'll sit this and every fight we ever get into out."

"Why are you so quick to send me away. I already told you that I don't want to be here any longer than you want me here. But, while I'm here, the least you can do is let me help you." I glared, arguing my point.

"How can you help? I bet you haven't even picked up or wielded a sword a day in your life!" Naruto yelled.

"_**I wouldn't be so quick to say that, Naruto. The Uchiha clansmen are taught to wield swords at a young age. And, from what I've heard, Sasuke is actually a great swordsman." **_ Itachi defended. Naruto had a questionable look on his face before opening his mouth to say something. Itachi cut him off. _**"Just let him help you. And if he dies, then he dies of his own fault."**_

Naruto did some more thinking before turning his blue gaze towards me. "You can fight with me, but make sure to stay out of my way and don't die."

I took my fighting stance back up. "Promise."

"_**If you two are done with your lover's quarrel, then we can start now."**_ Hakuku impatiently said.

"_**He's not my lover!"**_ Naruto screamed before racing off.

The two battled it out. Naruto only had his body to use as a weapon. One of his clawed hands caught the spear while the other tried to jab at Hakuku. The spider guardian was good at dodging. He dodged every one of Naruto attacks before using his legs to throw Naruto away from him. That was my cue to go.

I ran towards Hakuku with my sword in my right hand and my sheath in my left hand. He tried to swing his spear at me, but I dodged it and managed to slice his left hand off. He screamed in pain as he held his handless wrist. I was actually amazed at how nicely the sword cut through. I've never had a sword that made a nicer cut, but I didn't have time to marvel at it. Hakuku gave me a glare that meant he wanted my blood. He used his right hand to swing his spear at me again. I back flipped out of the way, hitting him in the chin as I did so. When I was standing solidly on the ground, I raced to his right side and managed to make a clean slice through all four of his legs.

"He's actually pretty handy with a sword." I heard Naruto praise.

"_**Told ya."**_ Itachi smirked.

The praise felt good to hear from the rough half-demon, but it also distracted me.

"Watch out, Sasuke!" I heard Kiba scream.

I looked down and saw that Hakuku was about to jab his legs into my stomach, but Naruto managed to grab them. With his legs in a tight grip, Naruto yanked them from his body before stabbing them through his abdomen.

"You still have a lot to learn." Naruto said while looking at me.

As I stared into his blue eye, I felt mesmerized. There was something phenomenal about it. I can't really explain it, but it's weird. The color blue in his iris is unlike anything I had ever seen before. It wasn't something natural you can find in my world. The shade of blue was deeper and more angelic than that of oceans or the sky. It was rich. Something anyone would give to have and Naruto is lucky to have it.

Naruto was the first one to move away. I didn't want him to move, but I couldn't stay staring either. That would just be weird. He walked towards Hakuku his staff in his tanned hand.

"Is this how you unlock the room to the treasure?" Naruto asked.

"_**Go to hell!" **_Hakuku growled, but screamed in pain when Naruto stabbed him with one of his discarded legs.

"Let's try that again… Do you use your spear to unlock the door to the treasure?" Naruto asked again as he twisted the limb appendage in the arachnid's body.

"_**I'M NOT TELLING YOU SHIT! SO SUCK MY DICK!"**_

Naruto only shook his head before grabbing another discarded leg, but this time he did something different. He used the edge of Hakuku's leg to slice his right palm open and let the blood drip down the leg before turning back to Hakuku.

"Last chance. And since you know me you should know the secret behind the power of my blood. So you might wanna start talking… _**Do you… use your spear… to unlock… the door… that hides the treasure…?"**_ I felt a shiver run down my spine at each word he spoke.

His words were dangerous and yet hot. I think it was his voice. There was something in his voice that turned my insides into goo. It almost made me almost want Hakuku to not say anything so that Naruto can speak again.

"_**Fuck you…" **_ Hakuku grunted out.

Naruto only sighed before raising the bloody appendage over his head. _**"Idiot…"**_ He growled out before bringing down his make-shift weapon.

Hakuku screamed and squirmed in pain. I don't know what Naruto's blood was doing to him, but it must've been painful. He squirmed and screamed until too much blood started to spill from his mouth. He practically chocked on his own blood, but I highly doubt that was his cause of death. Hakuku gave one final scream before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went motionless.

"Damn Naruto. You didn't have to use your blood to kill him. You know that that's the worst way to kill some. You're such a sadist." Kiba sighed as he shook his head.

"_**Naruto!"**_We turned around to see Sakura standing at the first door in the room with her hand over her mouth. She walked over to us and used her staff to touch him. "You killed him… using your blood didn't you?" She asked. Naruto didn't move until she tried to jump on him. When she tried to hug Naruto, he moved out of the way. She collided with the ground. "You're so mean." She pouted before picking herself up. "I can't believe you killed him… using your poisoned blood… You're just as ruthless as ever… and it turns me on completely…" She whispered with half-lid eyes and while slowly licking her lips.

"Well I don't know about you, but hearing how turned on Sakura turns me off." We turned our heads to see Kiba and Akamaru leaning against the door that hid the treasure. "So, unless you want me to puke all over this floor, I suggest you open this door and let Naruto get his sword. I don't wanna hear this anymore than they probably do."

Sakura moved away from Naruto and glared at Kiba before using her staff to open the door. "You're such a killjoy." She said while rolling her eyes.

"And you're an annoying bitch, but that's just one of your more… _**endearing **_qualities." Kiba said sarcastically.

Choosing to ignore their bickering, Naruto, Itachi, and I walked into the room. There was treasure of all kinds. There were jewels o all colors, things I could only hear about in myths, gold littered the floor and were stacked along the walls. It was defiantly a heaven for the poorest of men.

"We didn't come here for this worthless trash." Naruto stated.

"Trash? This place would be heaven for all of the people in my world suffering from poverty." I said as I turned to face him.

"That's why everyone in your world is weak and greedy. You only see what you like, not what's important. If a human sees money instead of food, they'll take the money. Why? Yes that money can be used to buy more food, but they usually spend it on something they've always wanted instead of this necessary for survival. It's the same with all humans and you can't tell me otherwise." Naruto argued.

I opened my mouth to retaliate back, but decided not to. Everything Naruto just said was true. I know that if it was me I would grab the money first and get side tracked on what I would spend it on. So, after giving it some thought, I guess Naruto was right. Humans really are weak and greedy.

I had my head lowered so I couldn't see if Naruto was still looking at me or not. "Come on. Let's go get my sword." I only nodded before following him.

We went further into the room. I ignored the glittering treasure. It didn't impress me anymore after Naruto's statement. We finally made it to the back of the room. My eyes widen when I saw a giant, long sword leaning against the wall.

The blade glittered brighter than all of the gold and jewels. The hilt was red with traces of gold. But what caught my attention was a line running down the middle of it. I wonder if it has a purpose or if it's just for decoration.

Naruto grabbed it and attached it to his back. Once it was secure, Naruto and I made our way back into the room where we fought Hakuku and where Sakura and Kiba were still arguing.

"We're leaving Kiba. I got what I came here for." Naruto ordered.

"About damn time. See ya, Spider Hag." Kiba waved.

"Come back anytime Naruto-kun! And don't forget to bring Itachi-kun and Sasuke-kun too! But, leave Wolf Boy at home." She glared.

"I don't wanna come back. I can still feel your guardian's web on me." Kiba cringed.

"Oh wait! Where are my manors. I'll have my spiders take you out of the forest." She offered.

"Thanks." I nodded.

"So Naruto-kun." She said in a 'sexy' voice as she moved to stand in front of him with her hands on his chest. That pain came back, but I managed to push it back. "Now that you're awake and have your sword back… will you be finally leading us into war against your family?"

Naruto roughly moved her away from him before hopping on a spider's back. "Just make sure that you and your spider army are ready when I summon you. You're assistance is going to be needed during the war."

Once we were on the spiders securely, they started moving. In the distance, we heard Sakura yelled towards us. "Don't worry Naruto-kun! We'll be ready and willing to serve you! But, I hope to see you before then. We still have some unfinished _**business **_between us." Her giggle could be heard even as we traveled towards the front of the forest.

Once we were at the front of the forest, we hopped off the spider and thanked them before they disappeared.

"Well Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi. It's been fun, but Akamaru and I have to go. I need a bath. I can still feel some webs still lingering on me." He cringed. He hopped on Akamaru and sped off while shouting good-bye to us.

"Come. We need to get back to Tsunade and Jiraiya's village." Naruto commanded.

I nodded and followed him along with Itachi.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Naruto… What did Sakura mean when she said you guys had unfinished _**business**_?" I asked.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to get into other's business? You'll live longer." He glared at me. I only turned away without saying anything. After s few minutes, Naruto sighed heavily. "She wants me to sleep with her again. There you happy?"

"That's… too much information for me to know…" And answered.

"You asked." He replied.

…

…

…

During the walk, I noticed that sky turning dark. The sun was almost completely set and the heat was starting to die down. It was quiet and nice. I was never one to talk while traveling. I enjoy the quiet. I think Naruto just doesn't care, but I think he'd rather me not say anything since he hates me so much. Even though he hates me, I can still respect his wishes for me not to talk. After all, I like the quiet too. The sound of a groan caught my attention. That's when I saw Naruto fall to the ground.

"Naruto!" Itachi and I yelled as we ran to his side.

"_**Naruto, are you alright?"**_ Itachi asked.

"Blood…" Was all he answered.

"Blood?" I asked.

"_**I forgot. Naruto thrives on blood. Remember how he used his blood to kill that spider guard? Whatever amount of blood he uses needs to be replaced. He needs to drink someone or something's blood in order for him to start healing."**_ Itachi explained.

"I have to get him somewhere where we can set up camp. Once I do that, he can have some of my blood." I said before throwing his arm over my shoulder to support his weight. He weakly tired to push away from me, but it didn't work. "Stop trying to push me away. You need blood and I'm the only one that can give it to you, so shut up." I said as I led him to the nearest tree.

I propped him against a tree. He seemed a little out of it, letting me know that he was on the verge of unconsciousness. I had to hurry. I quickly grabbed my sword and slit my palm. I hissed at the pain, but managed to ignore it. His blue eye was dazed. He was really out of it. He didn't even have the strength to try and resist me. I knew that I had to hurry up. I put my sword down and used that same hand to pull the bandages around his mouth down. I was shocked to see that his lips were a mixture of pink and tan, but full. They weren't plumped, bruised, or anything like I imagined. But, I didn't have time to marvel at them. I had to save him.

I used that same hand to open his lips apart before pouring my blood into his mouth. I poured all of my blood into his mouth and was satisfied that he was actually swallowing it. I pulled my hand away when I felt my blood flow lessen. He drunk every last drop before finally passing out. I took my hand and just stared at the red line in the middle of my palm.

There were traces of my blood left around the line, but I didn't mind. I can't let Naruto die. If he dies, then I failed my destiny and I don't know what will happen after that. Part of me doesn't want to know. If he's survival depends on me supplying him blood, then so be it. I can contribute at least that much. He took more blood than I thought he would. I think he might want more, but he seemed satisfied for now. That gave me some time to rest. I moved to sit next to him and relaxed.

"_**You alright, Sasuke?"**_ Itachi asked as he moved to sit on my lap.

"I'll be fine. I'm just a little tired. I think I cut myself a little too deep, but I'll be fine." I said while moving to try and get comfortable.

"_**Sleep Sasuke. You'll feel better in the morning."**_

I nodded at what Itachi said. Sleep came quicker than I thought.

…

…

…

"Hey." I heard someone call to me. "Hey. Wake up. I know you can hear me." The voice said again.

It wasn't until I felt someone kick me I jolted awake.

"What the hell?" I yelled as I rubbed my ankle.

"Oh good. You're awake." Naruto said as he stood over me. His tanned muscular arms were folded over his muscled torso and the morning sun was behind him.

"Why did you kick me?" I asked.

"You wouldn't wake up and we need to get to going. I can imagine that you're hungry. The village isn't too far away. We only have a little way to go." Naruto said before turning his back to me. I grunted as I stood up and grabbed my sword, but when I reached for it I noticed that there was bandage on my hand. I looked at it before looking at Naruto. "You fed me your blood by slitting your palm, so I fixed it for you. You're welcome."

"You should be the one thanking me. Why did you need blood anyway?" I asked

"Unlike a lot of demons, I have to use my blood to kill. I don't know how, but I obtained poisonous blood. I can take anyone's blood, but if they come into contact with mine, they'll die. That's what happened with Hakuku. That's why I have that long line in the middle of my blade. It holds my blood. It's my strongest weapon, but it's also a curse. Each time I draw blood, either from myself or if I'm wounded, then I have to replace it. I usually take from animals, but you were the only one around. This is a onetime exception. Don't get used to it. I refuse to let myself weaken so much that I have no choice but to rely on you. This curse is a part of the life I am forced to live. You're just an ant who just so happened to be destined here." He glared. "Now let's go. I need to reach them as soon as possible."

I felt my body shake with rage as I watched his retreating back.

"_**Don't get too upset, Sasuke. Naruto has always been like this. Don't take it too personal."**_ Itachi said before following Naruto.

"_I can't believe that teme of a half-demon is so spiteful against me because my last name is Uchiha. Oh well. When this is all over, I'll go home and pretend that this is all a bad dream. I could never work with someone as stubborn, disrespectful, or ignorant as him. I can't wait till this is all over."_ I thought as I followed the duo.

…

…

…

**To Be Continued…**

**Next time on 'Timers'…**

There's something wrong with Naruto's sword and they also encounter another old friend of Naruto's.


	4. Encounter with an Old Enemy

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Nothing special.

**Chapter 3: Encounter with an Old Enemy**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

**A Week Later**

"**I'M SO FUCKING TIRED OF BEING HERE!"** Naruto yelled as he threw his sword into the tree next to where I was walking.

The thick blade pierced the bark like it was nothing. Sighing heavily I used my strength to pull it out of the bark. "You have some serious anger issues." I said as I handed him his sword.

"You asked you!" He yelled after snatching it from me. "We've been doing nothing but sitting on our asses for the pass week and it's all because my grandparents aren't telling me anything!"

"Instead of becoming irritated and getting more upset, why don't you use this time to relax and get your head together." I sighed again as I leaned against the tree Naruto pierced with his blade with my arms crossed.

"What are you my therapist now?" Naruto glared while sitting across from me with his sword between his legs. "When the hell are you going home? You've only been her for a week and a half and I was already sick of you since day one."

"I can't leave until we fight and win this stupid war you declared. Once that happens, then I'll leave and you'll never have to hear from me again." I glared back.

He hesitated a little bit before lying on the ground with his hands behind his head. "Fine by me. The quicker we win this war the faster you can go the hell home and get the fuck out of my life." Naruto huffed.

I saw him close his eye and breathe deeply. For the first time since I've met him, Naruto has never been at ease. He's always been tensed over something. The only thing that's calming about him is his scent. It smells sweet and yet angry. During the two times we were actually close, I couldn't help but take in his scent and marvel at how intoxicating it was. I usually don't enjoy sweet things, but there was something about his scent that just captured my attention and has been on my mind ever since. I don't know why, but I have the urge to sometimes start arguments with him so that I can get close enough to smell him. I know it sounds a little weird, but I feel like I can't get enough of his scent. It, along with his voice, sends shivers running up and down my spine in a pleasurable manor. That only added to my attraction of him, while also making it harder to get close to him mentally and emotionally. I know that I have a crush on the half-demon- from what I can see and have heard, he's handsome- but I'll never admit it out loud. I've never felt this way about anyone, but I hope it means nothing. I'm only supposed to help him win this war and leave it at that. Once the war is over we were going to parts ways and never hear from the other again. That saddened me a little. I don't want to just part from him like that. I feel… a special bond connecting us. Maybe it's the bond from the story of Naruto's sealing or maybe it's just my imagination. I don't know, but whatever it is I feel it and the only thing I can do about it is try to spend as much time with him as I can. That's a hard task to do especially when the half-demon you're infatuated with hates your guts because of your name.

"_**Would you stop staring at me? It's creepy and annoying." **_Naruto's voice calmly said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head before turning a glare on him. "I wasn't staring. I was thinking. Stop acting so conceded." I snapped at him.

I wasn't totaling lying. I was thinking, but at the same time my eyes were staring at him.

"Hn. Whatever you saw." He leaned back onto the ground with his hands behind his head and I could tell that he was smirking under his bandages. "By the way… you're blushing. I bet it's because you were thinking about me too, huh?" He teased.

I jumped at what he said. I touched my cheeks and felt that there was a bit of warmth coming from them. Realizing that he was right, I turned away from him with a huff.

"It's ok, princess. You aren't the only one that marvels at me and you most certainly won't be the last." I felt him smirking again. I turned to yell at him about calling me princess, but was stopped by Itachi's voice.

"_**It's good to see that you two are finally getting along."**_ He joked.

"What do you want, ya black hair ball?" Naruto glared as he sat up.

"_**Jiraiya and Tsunade have finally finished planning your next moves." **_He informed us.

"About damn time. I was starting to get tired of sitting around and being irritated by him all day." Naruto said with his index finger pointing at me.

I only glared and watched as Naruto stood up and strapped his sword to his back before walking towards their hut. When he walked passed me, Naruto's shoulder purposely shoved into me without an apology.

I turned my head to glare harder at his retreating back. Itachi only shook his head and sighed.

"_**Will you two ever get along?"**_

"Not even if Hell freezes over." I answered with my glare still in place as I followed the teme of a half-demon.

…

…

…

"No! Absolutely not! No way in fucking Hell will I do that!" Naruto yelled from his sitting position in Tsunade and Jiraiya's hut.

"And why not?" Tsunade glared at her grandson.

"Why is it me that has to escort the brat every damn where?" Naruto pouted childishly with his arms folded over his chest.

"_**I am in the room. You don't have to speak like I'm invisible."**_ I lightly growled.

"Because he is your charge. That means that Sasuke is technically your responsibility, Naruto." Tsunade said with her arms crossed over her large chest. "Besides. This is for Sasuke's and your benefit. All you need to do is escort him to Gaara and have that red headed menace train him."

"Or…" Jiraiya started. "You could train him yourself." The older male fox smirked.

"Hell no!" Both Naruto and I yelled together.

"Alright than. It'll be your job to escort Sasuke to Gaara and monitor over his process." Tsunade said casually while checking her claws.

"I'm not doing it." Naruto huffed.

"Oh yes you will and you'll like it." Tsunade glared while scolding him like a child.

"He doesn't have to do it. Just tell me where to go and I'll go by myself." I said.

"Please. You won't be able to survive one minute out there alone. Especially if they know who you are. You'll be dead before you reach five miles outside the village." Naruto chuckled.

"That's what you're there for Naruto. To protect him along the way. You know who your enemies are and you also know that at his current state, Sasuke wouldn't last too much without your protection." Tsunade said.

"I'm not weak. I can handle myself just fine and I don't need _**you **_protecting me. Jiraiya, point me in the right direction and I'll be on my may." I said with an angry glare at Naruto.

"Good luck princess. You won't be able to survive for long without me, but who cares. I don't need you anyway. Go ahead and leave. I don't need you anyway." Naruto said with his arms crossed.

"The hell you need me. Without me, you'd have no chance at winning. I don't know why I was the one that had to set a spoiled little prince like you free, but I don't care. I don't need you, this stupid ass war or training. And I could give two fucks about my supposed destiny. I'm outta here. Go find yourself another person to help you guys win the war. I don't need this shit. Come on Itachi." I groaned as I stood up and started to walk towards the hut's door feeling hurt by Naruto's harsh words and my sword held tight in my hands. But, right before I was about to exit, something hit me in the back of my head. "Hey!' I said as I turned around and saw that it was Tsunade that had threw a spoon at the back of my head.

"_**You're not going anywhere."**_ She growled. Naruto started to laugh, but stopped when she approached him. _**"And you."**_ She growled again before picking Naruto up and slamming him into the ground.

"What gives Tsunade!" He yelled at her.

"Yeah. Why did you hit me and slam him?" I asked.

"_**Will you two SHUT UP?" **_Both Naruto and I jumped at her frightening tone. _**"I am sick and tired of you two always fighting and disagreeing with our plans! No more! Sasuke you need Naruto just like Naruto needs you. Sasuke isn't going anywhere and Naruto will learn to be nicer to Sasuke until the war is over. Once it is over, you two can go your separate ways and never have to hear from each other for the rest of your lives, but until then… you two will grow the fuck up because you're giving me a migraine!"**_ She yelled.

Naruto and I were slightly cowering still from her scolding, but managed to look at each other. There was still dislike in both of our eyes, but we couldn't show it for fear of what Tsunade was going to do next. So, out of good faith, I held my hand out for Naruto to shake. He looked down at it before looking at me and hesitantly reaching for it. When he finally grabbed my hand, we shook once before letting go.

"Now, see that's so much better." Tsunade smiled while patting the top of our heads. "Alright Jiraiya tell these two where to go"

We turned our heads to see that the old male fox demon was hiding behind a box. He popped his head out to see that everything calmed down before clearing his throat. "Like I was saying before. In order for Sasuke to become strong enough to participate in the war and actually survive, he'll need special training from Gaara. I managed to get a fix on him and found in the~"

"I know where he is. I'll escort Sasuke to him safely." Naruto interrupted with his eye closed and his arms crossed.

We all stared at him with shock and amazement.

"_**Are you sure Naruto?" **_Itachi asked.

"Of course I'm sure. Like Tsunade said, Sasuke is my charge and I need him to help me win. If taking him to Gaara will help him get stronger, then there's no debate as to if he has to go or not. So, I'll take him there and make sure he's protected along the way." Naruto calmly answered.

I shook my head free from the bewilderment and nodded in appreciation. "Thank you."

"It's my job, so there's no need for thanks. But, let's get this straight…" He opened his eye and unfolded his arms to tower over me. "I'm only doing this because I'm getting benefits and because Tsunade got on our cases about this. This, in no way shape or form, means that I like you. Don't mistake that. I still hate you and your clan because of what that bitch did to me…" He turned to walk towards the door of the hut, but stopped and cocked his head in my direction so I could see that his eye was narrowed into a slit. "And that will never change…"

He closed the cloth behind himself. I turned to Itachi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya who all nodded. I turned to follow him outside the hut with Itachi and my sword at my side.

…

…

…

"So, um, Naruto… What's Gaara like?" I asked.

We had been walking for a few hours. The conversation that we had in the hut before leaving played forever in my mind, including the narrow of Naruto's eye. His narrowed eye chilled me to the very core and made sure that I knew that he was 100% serious. That also hurt a little. I felt it in my chest. Knowing that the person you sort of like will never like you because of what your relative did to him, left an empty feeling in my chest.

Ever since we left the hut, the walk was as silent as ever, but this time it wasn't as comfortable as the other ones. Granted that the other walks were completely comfortable, but they were more so than this one. So I wanted to speak to make the awkwardness somewhat disappear, but it was mostly out of curiosity. Curiosity of whom or what Gaara is.

"Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked in return with his head turned to face me.

"I have to receive training from him, right? And if he's one of the only ones that can train me, so that means that he's a good trainer, right? So I just wanted to know what kind of person he was." I explained.

Naruto turned his head forward and started to think. The best way to describe Gaara is a sadist and a monster. He's one of the most ruthless person I know. He doesn't really care for anyone and he prefers to constantly be alone. He'll work you to the bone, literally, until either you die, he's satisfied, or he's bored with you and he ends up killing you himself. In the past, before I was put to sleep, he ended up having over 20 students I believe."

I gulped. "And how many was he satisfied with?"

"Out of 20 students? Zero. I think he killed some because they weren't working hard enough. He gets annoyed very easily." Naruto smirked.

"_**Naruto. Stop scaring Sasuke."**_ Itachi scolded.

"If it makes you feel any better, most of them ended up dying because he pushed them too hard. But, then again, he usually does it. I think he tends to forget that some demons aren't as strong as him. Oh well, at least you'll be of some use to him if you die." He smirked.

I stopped dead in my tracks with wide eyes. "What do you mean I'll be of use to him if I die?" I stuttered.

Naruto slowly turned around and walked towards me until he's bandaged mouth was right next to my ear. _**"I mean he likes to use your flesh for more clothes while using your bones to make his bread."**_ I felt my heart stop, my head started spinning, and whatever color I had drained from my face. Naruto's laugh was what snapped me out of my trance. "I'm just fucking with you, Sasuke." He kept laughing. I glared at him with red cheeks. That's when he stopped laughing and gave me a serious look. _**"Or am I?"**_

"_**Damnit Naruto. You're going to scare him silly with your tall tales." **_Itachi glared.

"It's alright. I won't fall for his tricks." I said as I was about to walk passed Naruto. But right when I did, Naruto pushed me down onto the ground with him on top of me. When I looked at him and what position we were in, I started to blush before pushing him off me. "What the hell was that for?" I said as I dusted myself off.

"You should be thanking me." He said.

I gave him a confused look. When he knew I didn't understand, Naruto rolled his eyes and pointed to something in the ground. A few feet to my right, I saw a red and silver scythe in the ground with a chain attached to it.

"What the hell?" I questioned.

And right when I did that, the scythe started moving on its own until it disappeared into the forest.

"I'm so confused." I stated.

"There's only one person that scythe could belong to." Naruto growled as he removed his sword. I followed suit and readied myself for whatever foe was coming our way.

"_**It's good to see that you're finally awake, Naruto-kun."**_ A man said as he emerged from the woods. _**"I was worried you might never wake up." **_He turned his gaze on me before returning it back to Naruto. _**"And that boy over there is responsible for it, no? I should be thanking you. Now I can get my revenge on him."**_ The guy said as he moved to stand in a fighting pose.

He sported lightly tanned skin, short silver hair and unusual purple eyes. On top of his head were two black ears and there were thick black circles around his eyes. He wore no shirt, a red high collared cape that reached his ankles, black pants, sandals, and wrist high fingerless gloves. Under his cape, I could've sworn I saw a black and gray tail moving under it. The scythe he was wielding had three blades sticking out of it. It was a weapon no weakling could hope to wield. That only confirmed my fears. The power coming from him screamed that he was a pure demon and that he wanted Naruto's head on a silver platter.

"Hidan, didn't I tell you not to bring your sorry ass in my face after I kicked it last time?" Naruto glared.

"I see that you haven't changed while you were sleeping these past thousand years. I hope the same can be said for your fighting skills." Hidan smirk widen.

"What's the story on this guy?" I asked.

"I saved him one time when we were kids and have been friends ever since then. He used to follow me around all the time and talk animatedly about whatever we crossed, but what made him cool was his foul attitude. He didn't respect anyone other than me. But he started getting annoying when we reached our teenage years. He started to get really annoying, so I tried to kill him… and failed. He's wanted me dead ever since." Naruto explained.

"That's right and now that you're awake I can take my revenge on you." Hidan said before rushing at us.

Itachi was the first to go. He jumped onto Hidan's face and scratched the hell out of it. The silver haired demon yelled in pain at the feeling of Itachi's sharp claws in his flesh, ended up pulling my cat off of him. Hidan held a glaring Itachi to his face and glared back.

"_**I always did find you annoying." **_He growled before he dropped kicked Itachi into a nearby tree.

"Itachi!" I yelled as I ran to his side.

He was unmoving and when I picked him up, I could feel that some of his bones were either snapped out of place or broken. I made sure that I was careful with him as I held him.

"_**You're going to pay for that, Hidan!"**_ Naruto roared.

He swung his scythe, but Naruto managed to dodge it. Hidan grunted as he pulled his scythe from the ground and came at Naruto again. Naruto added some of his blood onto his sword. The silver haired demon brought his weapon down on Naruto, but he used his sword to block it. With all of his strength, Naruto was able to hold his own and managed to push Hidan back. When Naruto pushed him back, he took a swing. Hidan dodged the wide swing from the large blade, but stumbled. I took the opportunity to attack.

I gently placed Itachi down and removed my sword. I crept up behind Hidan, came around to his right side, and swung my sword. I mentally cheered when I was able to knock his head clear off, but was freaked out when the body didn't fall.

"**WATCH OUT SASUKE!"** Naruto shouted.

I didn't know what he was saying until I turned to see Hidan's body bring the scythe down on me. I screamed in pain as I felt the blades of his scythe dig into my left arm and leg. That's when Naruto raced over to us, grabbed Hidan's body by the cape and throw it away from us. He then turned to me, yanked the scythe out, and held me close as we kneeled onto the ground.

"You ok?" He asked.

I had to keep my blush down when I realized that I was pressing against his hard chest and that his sweet but angry scent was in my nose. "Yeah. I'm fine, just in a lot of pain." I grunted.

"Yeah. I probably should've mentioned his special ability." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"What… special ability?" I asked with confusion on my face and in my voice.

"Ever since that day I tried to kill him, Hidan made a deal with an ancient demon and had a curse placed on him. To put it simple, the curse prevents Hidan from dying normally… as long as he can get his head on within a timely manner…" Naruto explained.

I just stared at him with wide eyes for a few moments. "So… you mean to tell me… that Hidan can't die and you **PICK NOW OF ALL TIMES TO TELL ME THAT?**" I yelled.

"**I CAN STILL KILL HIM WITH MY BLOOD, SO I FORGOT!"** He yelled back. "Plus I've been sleeping for a 1000 years. Things like that tend to slip my mind."

I was about to yell back, but stopped when I realized something. "You said that he'll die unless he gets his head back on within a timely manner, right?" I asked.

"Yeah so?"

"If what you said is true… then we have a big problem on our hands." I said pointing to Hidan's body.

When Naruto kicked the body, he kicked it too close to the head. We watched in horror as the head was placed back on and adjusted so that it'd stay on.

"Now that wasn't very nice…" Hidan said as he rolled his neck around before walking to retrieve his scythe. "Naruto was the only one I wanted to kill, but now I see I'll have to kill you too."

He ran towards us and swung his weapon. Naruto threw me out of the way. I rolled away from them and grunted in pain as the dirt and grass started to get into my wounds. When I finally stopped rolling, I lifted myself up and applied pressure to my wounds while watching the two battled it out.

Naruto was on the ground with Hidan on top of him with only their weapons between them. Naruto looked like he was having some trouble with holding his own against the raccoon demon. That's when Naruto used his feet to sweep under Hidan and knock him down. But, Hidan didn't go all the way down. He found his footing before throwing his scythe. Naruto used his sword to deflect it while running at him. But Hidan had a trick up his sleeve.

"**WATCH OUT NARUTO!"** I yelled.

Naruto may have deflected his attack, but Hidan was holding onto the chain and controlling it. He made it come all the way around and dig into Naruto's back. The half-demon grunted in response, even when Hidan slowly yanked it out of his back.

"**NARUTO!"** I screamed as I watch him fall to his knees.

"Damn…" He gasped while trying to control his breathing.

"Doesn't feel too good does it? Now you know what it felt like when you did it to me." Hidan smirked. "I wish that this was a little more fun, but oh well. After I kill you, I'll take care of that human over there. Maybe I'll have a little more fun with him instead."

My heart and blood were beating rapidly in my ears from fear for mine and Naruto's life. Hidan was about to bring his scythe down, but Naruto grabbed it with his hand. The half-demon yanked on the scythe, bringing Hidan towards his face. I couldn't see his eye from where I was, but I could sense as his anger spiked at Hidan's comment. I could, however, see that Hidan's eyes were wide with fear. Naruto cocked his arm back before letting his fist connect with the side of Hidan's cheek. The raccoon demon stumbled backwards, allowing Naruto to swung his sword and cut Hidan's legs off at the knee. He screamed in pain and kept screaming as Naruto stabbed Hidan with his own scythe before throwing them across the field.

I watched as Naruto stood up with no problems, even with blood pouring out of his wounds. It had me worried that he was losing too much blood. But, it didn't faze him. He made his way over to me with lightning speed and scooped me up. I wanted to protest, but Naruto was in no mood for back talk.

"Where's Itachi?" He asked calmly.

"Over there. By that tree." I pointed and before I knew it, Naruto raced over there with inhuman speed.

He gently reached down, picked up my feline companion and placed him in my arms before taking us deeper into the forest. When we were out of danger, Naruto set us down against a tree before leaning against it himself.

"How are your wounds?" He panted.

"The dirt and grass I got in them stings a little, but other than that I'm fine." I saw his blue eye lower to Itachi's unconscious form. "He's worse than me. His bones are either snapped or broken. We have to be careful when moving him." Naruto nodded.

We sat in silence for a little bit. Naruto was the first one to get up. I noticed that blood stopped leaking from his back wounds.

"I'm going to go find Hidan and finish the fight." He plainly stated with his back towards me.

"Let me come with you. I can help~"

"No. you have to stay here." He said.

"Naruto. Tsunade said that we have to start getting along and working together. You can't go out there. You're badly wounded and you don't even have your sword. How are we supposed to do that if you don't trust me in battle?" I glared.

"I do trust you, in battle, but this fight is too dangerous. I don't need you dying on me. Tsunade is right. I do need you… I see that now." He admitted, shocking me. I only just stared at his back in shock. I also watched as he removed his jacket. "Here. My coat will hide your scent so that Hidan can't find you. I've lost too much blood, so I don't have enough to kill him and make it back here without collapsing. So I'll knock him out long enough for us to get back to the village. But, when I get back… I'm going to need some of your blood… Think you could give me some?" I stared him in his blue eye, flabbergasted about what he was saying. It made me think that he actually cares about me. I only nodded as I took his cloak and wrapped it around Itachi and myself. "Stay low and out of sight. I'll be back soon."

I watched as Naruto walked in the direction we came from. "What about your sword?"

"I'll have it when I come back!" He yelled back.

I only just shook my head with a little blush and smirk on my face. I held Itachi gently while also wrapping the cloak around us even more. I couldn't stop myself from smelling his coat. I could smell some of the blood that spilled on his coat, but his scent was over powering it.

"_It smells just like him… Sweet yet angry… It's so intoxicating…"_

…

…

…

**Normal P.O.V.**

"There you are, Naruto. I was wondering where you went. And I see you left that boy and his cat back where ever you hid them. Didn't want them to see me defeat you?" Hidan teased.

"I left them so that they can be safe from you. I'm the only one you need to worry about defeating you." Naruto said, trying to stand tall.

"Ha. You always were a funny guy. I mean… look at you… You can't even stand up straight. How do you think that you'll defeat me?"

"Keep talking so I can rip that tongue of your out." Naruto panted before running towards Hidan.

It was true that the half-demon could barely stand. But, he knew he had to win to protect Sasuke and get them back home so that Tsunade could heal their wounds. Failure was not an option.

Hidan smirked and threw his scythe again. Naruto dodged it and Hidan swung it around, but this time Naruto was ready. He waited for the weapon to come back. When it did, Naruto grabbed it and pulled on it, bringing Hidan along with it. Naruto swung on the chain as Hidan hung onto it for dear life. Naruto used the chain to slam Hidan on the ground with a lot of force. The last time Hidan was slammed to the ground, he tried to get up, but Naruto's heavy foot prevented him from doing so. With all the strength he had, Naruto yanked Hidan's head off and threw it in the opposite direction of the village. He then picked up the body by the cape and threw it in another direction. Finally, he picked up the scythe and threw it in another direction. He wanted to separate them far enough to by the sometime. By time the body finds Hidan's head and the scythe, Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi would be long gone. So, without wasting time, Naruto grabbed his sword and strapped it onto his back before making his way back to Sasuke and Itachi.

…

…

…

Sasuke was sitting in the same position until he saw Naruto staggering towards him. As gently as he could, Sasuke stood up with Itachi in his hands and walked over to him. Sasuke just made it in time to catch the half-demon from hitting the ground. Naruto must've lost almost all of his blood to be this weakened.

Using the edge of Naruto's sword, Sasuke cut his hand opened and feed Naruto the blood from that wound. Naruto hungrily drank all of it and even licked the wound clean. Sasuke looked down at Naruto's head that was in his lap with a questionable look.

"I'm fine now. Thanks for helping me Sasuke… But, I still don't like you…"

Sasuke only nodded with a sigh. "I don't think you ever will and I've come to accept it."

"_Sadly."_ Sasuke thought.

"Hidan won't be bothering us for a while. I separated his head, body, and scythe. We shouldn't be seeing him for a while." Naruto grunted as he stood up. He turned around to see Sasuke about to faint, but Naruto caught him just in time. "Come on. Let's get you back to the village before you die from blood lost."

Naruto hosted Sasuke and Itachi onto his back with little effort and took off sprinting once they were secured.

…

…

…

"Damn you three. I can't leave you guys alone for a second, can I?" Tsunade sighed as she bandaged Sasuke's wounds.

When they arrived, Sasuke and Itachi were unconscious and gave Naruto some privacy as his grandmother fixed his back and replaced the bandages. Jiraiya was busy repairing Itachi again, but he was having some difficulty since his old wounds were reopened and some of the same bones had to be either reset or repaired. Sasuke was wounds weren't as bad as they thought, but they were still pretty serious. One of the blades from Hidan's scythe just missed an important artery in his left leg. Sasuke eased into a sitting position once she was finished.

"It's actually a good thing that you guys ended up coming back here. Now I don't have to wait to tell you the good news." Tsunade said as she put her tools away and got out the scroll to lay in front of them. "I had a feeling that you three wouldn't be able to handle some of Naruto's enemies without getting too badly wounded and it looks like I was right. Today proved it when you three appeared in our hut looking like shit and on the brink of death. So I thought about getting you some help. Which Lady Luck seemed to be agreeing with me on that. While you were gone the other three secret weapons started to react. You see Sasuke, you weren't the only one who was destined to help Naruto win the war. There are three others. They didn't react at first because you had to wake Naruto up. Once that happened and once they sensed that you were having trouble, they started to react. The people who are destined to wield these weapons posses strong charka, like Sasuke. Now who they are, I don't know. The only thing I do know is that they're from your world Sasuke. That's the bad part." Tsunade explained.

"**WHAT?" **Naruto jumped up in shock.

"Sit down before you open your wounds again boy." Jiraiya scolded.

"I'm sorry if I'm in shock that I have to have three more humans tag along with me. I barely get along with Sasuke over here, how am I supposed to lead a whole group of humans?" Naruto complained with a clawed hand over his bandaged face.

"You don't know who they are and since there are billions and billions of people in my world… How the hell are we supposed to find them?" I asked.

"The secret weapons will lead you to them. I want you three to leave once you guys finish healing up and I don't want you coming back until you find all three of them. You're going to need them if you want to win this war." Jiraiya said.

Naruto huffed and folded his arms as he leaned against one of the walls of the hut. "Great… more weak humans to babysit. I just hope that they aren't Uchihas… I don't think my heart can take another Uchiha run-in experience." Naruto whispered to himself, but Sasuke caught it and suddenly started feeling bad for the miserable half-demon prince.

…

…

…

**To Be Continued…**

**Next Time on 'Timers'…**

Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi finally heal all the way before heading back to Sasuke's world. But, when they get there… Naruto has a lot to learn and even more to discover.


	5. Naruto, the Babysitter

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Nothing special.

**Author's Note: **I would like to give a shout out to _**GUEST, **_one of my anonymous reviewers. I read their review and smiled the whole time. Their review made my day all the more brighter. Thank you for the review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 4: Naruto, the Babysitter**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

"There. All packed." I stated after putting the last scroll into the bag they gave me before throwing it over my shoulder.

"Are you sure that you have everything you need?" Tsunade asked us.

"**FOR THE LAST FUCKIN TIME! YES GRANDMA TSUNADE, WE HAVE EVERYTHING PACKED!"** Naruto yelled with his hand thrown into the air with frustration. Tsunade walked over to him and hit him in his head with her fist. "Ouch."

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth, brat." She glared before turning towards me. "You have all the scrolls I've given you, right?"

"I believe so." I nodded.

"Now Sasuke, this is Naruto's first time in your world. Please keep an eye out on him. He may be in intelligent and strong, but I don't know how he'll react to the many wonders your world has. You'll have to be his babysitter this time around." Jiraiya teased.

"Don't you have porn to be writing?" Naruto glared.

"**IT'S RESEARCH!"** Jiraiya yelled.

"It's porn and everyone knows it. But, that fact aside, I don't need a fuckin babysitter. I'm the one that has to be the babysitter to the weak humans we're bringing back." Naruto started.

"Yes well, I'm still afraid of what you'll do if you get too excited over there, so Itachi is coming with you guys to watch you when Sasuke can't." Jiraiya smiled with his hand on the half-demon's shoulder.

"Good luck over there you guys. And remember… don't come back until you have the other three with you." Tsunade warned.

"Yeah, yeah. We hear you." Naruto groaned as he moved to stand in front of the well.

"Are you sure you'll be able to pass through this well?" I asked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, but if my chakra can pull you through the well and to this world then I'm sure as hell positive I can pass through." He said while rolling his one eye before doing a back flip into the well.

"Show off." I scoffed. Itachi jumped into my arms. "Hold on tight."

"_**Don't worry. I'll bring these two home safely."**_ Itachi promised.

With a tight grip on him, I jumped into the well while holding onto Itachi tightly. We arrived on the other side with an impatient Naruto waiting for us with his arms crossed.

"Took ya long enough. But, then again, I can't expect anything less from a weakling human like you." Naruto glared.

I was so pissed that I barely missed Itachi jumping out of my arms. My fists and teeth clenched in anger at his statement. He was always talking down on me or humans in general. If I was to be his partner in this stupid war, then there were some things that had to change.

"Look here you pompous, arrogant, selfish, proud half-breed~"

"That's the matter, Uchiha? Did I upset you?" He teased with a smirk playing under his bandages. "You're so easy to rile up."

I felt the anger boiling inside of me, but letting it out wasn't going to d me any good. If I let my anger out, then he was either going to argue with me back or he'll just tease me and rile me up even more. To try and steer this conversation in a somewhat good direction, I took deep breaths and tried to calm myself down.

"I thought you loved humans? Why do you speak so lowly of them?" I asked while messaging the bridge of my nose.

"I don't speak lowly of all humans… just Uchihas and people I think might be Uchihas." He shrugged with his arms crossed.

"But what if they're not Uchihas?" I questioned, my eye focused on him.

"Then I won't do it as much." He answered calmly.

"Then you better get used to doing it. I know for a fact that they won't be." I snorted.

"Oh? And how do you know that?" I could tell that he was smirking as he leaned his head towards me.

"Because… the only family I have left are my mother and father…" I mumbled.

My bangs were covering my eyes, but I could see as he moved away slowly and stood tense and straight. "Sorry."

My head shot up at that. This was the first time I've ever heard Naruto apologize about anything before. Every day, this half-demon surprises me with the little things he does or gives away about himself.

"It's alright. I've gotten used to it. It doesn't bother me." I said calmly.

"You should be grateful you have parents that give a damn about you though." He mumbled.

"You should be grateful that you still have your grandparents. I wish I had mine." I said as I turned to face him.

"I may not show it all the time, but I am very grateful for those two. But… it still doesn't replace the pain and sorrow I've faced every day since Kyuubi killed my mother." He stated, more to himself than to me.

After that, I just stood there and studied him for a while. This was the first time Naruto has ever really opened up to me. It wasn't much, but it was still something. Tempted to try and pry more out of him, I sat back and let him see that I was here to listen. He got the message, sighed and moved to sit next to me with his arms crossed tightly.

"My older brother, Kyuubi, is my father's pet. He would give up anything just to be the 'favorite'. I don't give two fucks though. He can have that title. I hate my old man anyway. Minato can suck my dick and go straight to Hell for all I care." Naruto growled with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "He may be my brother, but I cannot forgive him for what he or that bastard of a father of mine did you me and my mother. My father wants me to come home and play house with him and Kyuubi, but that damn sure ain't happening. The war we're participating in will end with one of us as the victor, which will be me. And once I stomped the both of them down ten feet, I'll disappear into the shadows and live out the rest of my days trying to find a way to become a full human instead of a half-breed."

"And if you don't…?" I asked, but was afraid of what his answer might be.

He thought it over for a little bit before deeply sighing. "… If I can't find a way to do that… then I'll simply kill myself. I know that I'll only grow tired of living, knowing that I can't be something I truly want to be. I'll also grow tired of having that man's blood run through my veins. At least as a human, I'll have more of my mother's blood running through me and I won't have any features to show that I was ever his kid. The only thing I'll have to show for it is the fact that I'm his spitting image. But, hopefully I'll find a spell to change that too or at least continue using my bandages to cover those features up." He explained, making the air tenser.

I felt sorry for him, but I wouldn't express it. I knew that, from what Itachi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade told me, that his hatred for his father and brother ran deep, but I never knew it ran this deep. And something tells me that I had barely scratched the surface. You would've never guessed that someone like Naruto would have as many problems in his life as he has friends. When I first met Naruto, I always thought that he was this arrogant, proud, jack-of-all-trades asshole. But, after hearing some of his life's story, I can see now that there's a whole other side of the half-breed that I don't know about. Hopefully with time I'll be able to learn more about him and maybe get him to either like me back or at least tolerate me enough to consider me a friend of some sorts. That was going to be my main goal to accomplish before I have to return to my world after the war. I just hope it'll be easier than pulling teeth.

With new determination rising within me, I stood up and pulled tighter on the cord from the bag I was holding onto. "I'm going to start deciphering the scrolls so that we can start looking for the other three. You can stay out here with Itachi if you want. In about an hour or so, I have to feed him. If you want, I could bring you something too?" I asked, but received no response.

It looked to be as if he was in some type of trance. I think he was having flashbacks about his past. I don't blame him. With a past like that, I'd have flashbacks too. I turned to leave Itachi and Naruto in the shrine and headed to my house.

I opened the door and was met with silence. I slowly closed the door and tried to tip-toe up the stairs.

"_**Did you have fun at your friend's house?"**_ A thick voice spoke, making me jump out of my skin.

I popped my head into the living room and saw my father reading the paper while my mother was sitting next to him, drinking tea and watching t.v., normal day in my household.

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

"I asked you did you have fun at your friend's house. Did you not hear me?" My father repeated.

"My friend's house?" I questioned.

"Yes. You were missing for three days. We figured you went to your friend's house and forgot to inform us. I'm glad you made it back safely." My mother smiled.

I thought about what they were saying before thinking of something to say to collaborate with what they were telling me. "Oh yes. I did have fun. I'm sorry I didn't call in advance to say that I was staying for three days. I hope you can forgive me." I bowed in respect to my parents.

My father folded the news paper under his arm before coming over to me and patting my head with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Just make sure you tell us from now on where you are. I don't want to have to come looking for you, especially on a school night." He teased as he walked off.

"He was really worried about you. We both were. Try not to give us a little scare like that again. I don't think our old hearts can take it." My mother also teased with a smile as she sipped more tea.

"I'll be sure to do that." I smiled, mentally sighing in relief.

My mother nodded and finished the rest of her tea before getting up and heading to the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in a hour. I'll call you when it's ready."

I watched her walk into the kitchen and get to work. Everything that just happened was weird, but not that unusual. I'm used to this treatment. Since I am almost never bad or disrespectful, I can get away with a lot of stuff like coming home a few days without telling them. I'm just glad they were too busy assuming things to ask any questions I would've had to come up with the answers on the spot.

As long as I wasn't in trouble, I ended up putting it behind me as I headed up the stairs to my room. I locked the door, removed all of the scrolls from the bag, and spread them out on the floor. I didn't know which one to start with first, so I randomly picked one up and started to read it.

…

…

…

**Normal P.O.V.**

**Meanwhile, back in the shrine…**

Naruto was still thinking about his past when Itachi jumped onto the edge of the well and sat next to him.

"_**You'll give yourself worry lines if you keep frowning and thinking too hard."**_ Itachi teased.

That snapped Naruto out of his train of thought. After shaking his head free from them, the half-breed turned to Itachi and smirked at the statement.

"How did you know I was frowning?"

"_**You always frown when you think. It's something that just runs in your family."**_ Itachi explained. _**"A penny for your thoughts?"**_

"I don't know what it is, but there's something about Sasuke that makes it easy for me to be around or talk to. It's bothersome." Naruto confessed.

"_**It would only make sense, I mean, he is the one that your heart has been calling out to during the time you were sleeping."**_

"Don't remind me." Naruto snorted with a roll of his eye and a turn on his head. There was silence in the shrine until Naruto spoke up. "Itachi… What happened after I was put to sleep?"

Itachi looked at Naruto before thinking of a good place to start. _**"After Kimuko put you to sleep, she took your sword and gave it to Sakura. Tsunade and Jiraiya were furious when they found out. We went to find her and when we did, we fought her. She had us on the ropes and right when she was about to finish us off, Minato showed up and rescued us. He almost killed her, but Kimuko was able to escape. Her wounds were serious, but I have a feeling she's still alive in our world somewhere. I would even bet each of my nine lives that she's waiting until you wake up to make her appearance, but I digress. Anyway, once we told Minato what happened to you because of that wrenched little girl, he looked upon this as an opportunity. What his motive is, I still don't know. He said that, since he save our lives, we owed him one favor. Mine's was simple. Tsunade had to supply him with herbs. Jiraiya had to give him one scroll that would help Kyuubi gain strength. As for me… I was put in charge of guarding, protecting, and guiding Sasuke to you. Minato took me through the portal that Kimuko created to some to our world and brought me here. He wanted the Uchiha clan to be punished because of what Kimuko did by making them watch over you. Naturally they refused, but when he ended up saving Sasuke's life after purposely putting him in danger, they had no choice but to comply with his wishes. I was the one that had to stay here and watch over Sasuke until the time was right."**_ Itachi could see the anger boiling inside of Naruto because of his father's deeds, but he still continued with his tale. _**"In honor and respect for you, Minato placed a shrine –this shrine- over your tomb and a Sakura Tree. By doing this, he let everyone know that that's where you were resting at. It's kind of like a tombstone, if you will. Once he was sure that both you were in good hands, Minato returned to our world and began waiting until you got up."**_

Naruto took in everything Itachi just said and nodded in an understanding. "But, how did he know that Sasuke was going to be the one to wake me up?"

"_**He didn't. He ordered me to stay in this world until the person that was supposed to free you was ready. It just so happened to be Sasuke."**_ Itachi calmly answered.

Naruto nodded again with his arms crossed. After a few moments, the half-demon moved off the well's edge and began walking outside. When he opened the doors, Naruto's eyes widens at the different scenery he was faced with. It was only a little portion, but it was still amazing to the stunned half-demon. After regaining his composer, Naruto moved to sit behind the Sakura tree so that Sasuke wouldn't get mad that he could be discovered by his parents with Itachi by his side. Naruto sat cross-legged with his sword next to him and Itachi curled up in his lap. Naruto's hand subconsciously began to stroke Itachi's fur as he stared blankly at the three's peddles falling around him.

"_**Tell me Naruto… Why did you break up with that girl anyway?"**_

Naruto thought about Itachi's question for a little while. "It didn't feel right. Sure she was cute and it was fun while it lasted, but I always felt like something was missing. I started feeling that way for a while and after being with her for three years, I thought that it was time that I ended it. Nothing felt right and I didn't want to waste my time with someone was losing interest in. So I dumped her ass, she got mad, put me to sleep, and the rest is history. Why does it matter?"

"_**I have a theory. I believe that Kimuko knew that Sasuke was the one you wanted all along and got jealous. It wouldn't be the first time an older sibling was jealous of their younger one, no? Now, I think she can sense that you're awake and that Sasuke is now in the picture. She's most likely waiting in dormant until the time is right. I actually am curious as to how long that spell was supposed to last? Things in our world are slow because time passes so much more quickly for demons than humans. If my math is correct, then you should be about 1,018 years old in our world, but only 34 in Sasuke's world."**_

"That old huh? Wow. That must mean that my father is beyond ancient. He shouldn't even leave fingerprints anymore." Naruto chuckled to himself lightly. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. The quicker Sasuke can find these humans and the quicker I win this war by killing Kyuubi and the old man, the faster I can put all of this foolishness behind me."

Itachi nodded in agreement before curling back up in Naruto's lap. The clawed hand came up to stroke his feline friend's silky fur softly as he slowly slipped back into his memories.

…

…

…

A little later that afternoon, Sasuke came out and brought food for the two. He and Naruto ate Raman Noodles while Itachi ate his cat food. The whole time, Naruto kept saying how much he loves the noodles and wanted more. There was enough left over for a few more bowls, so he brought Naruto a big bowl of the noodles and watched in amazement and disgust as the half-demon swallowed all of them in five gulps. Sasuke had also told him that he wasn't having any luck with the scrolls or the weapons, but he was going to keep trying. Naruto told him to take all the time he needed because he had to do something anyway. That stumped Sasuke for a minute, but he decided to let it go until another time. After Naruto, Itachi, and he was full, Sasuke took the bowls in and cleaned them before heading back up to his room to study the scrolls again.

The sun had already set and they still haven't heard from Sasuke yet. Both demons were starting to get sleepy and worried that there wasn't an update in the past five hours.

"What's taking him so long? He should at least had some kind of break through." Naruto groaned before lifting Itachi into his arms and using his chakra to walk up to Sasuke's window. Both demons looked inside and saw that Sasuke was passed out on his floor. "He's sleeping? Bastard." Naruto tsked as he opened the door.

Itachi jumped out of Naruto's arm ad strolled over to Sasuke. _**"He's so tired. He's been working hard and hasn't even been sleeping right any of those days we were in our world. I wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep as soon as he came back into his room."**_

"Yeah well he shouldn't have fallen asleep on the floor. Doesn't the fool know that he can catch a cold like that?" Naruto groaned as he rolled up each scroll and placed them on the desk before lifting Sasuke into his arms and tucking him into bed. "There. You should be fine now."

Itachi watched Naruto as he stared at the raven haired boy longingly. _**"You've grown soft for that boy."**_ The cat teased.

"What? No. I'm doing this for my own benefit. If he gets sick, then he really will be useless to me. That's all. My feelings have not changed for Sasuke. I still hate him." Naruto stated in a soft voice, hi eyes never leaving Sasuke's sleeping form.

"_**You sure about that?"**_ Itachi smirked.

Naruto continued to stare down and admired Sasuke's peaceful form. The raven was undoubtedly attractive and Naruto had no objections. He used one of his clawed hands to remove a raven bang off of his face. His porcelain skin and long eyelashes felt incredibly soft against his callous tanned skin. All his life, Naruto has been in contact with magnificent, majestic, and beyond beautiful beings, but Sasuke was hands down the only one gorgeous enough to catch the half-breed's eye. To say that Naruto didn't think that Sasuke was attractive would've been a lie, but that doesn't mean he had to let the world know. Deep down Naruto still hated Sasuke for what his relative did to him, but below that irrelevant hatred was some sort of attraction the half-demon felt for the human, but that was going to be something that only he could know about.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep." Naruto stated, ignoring Itachi's question, as he moved to lean up against Sasuke's bed with his sword in between his legs. "I suggest you do the same."

Itachi only chuckled and shook his head as while jumping up to curl against Sasuke. The cat knew a little of Naruto's feelings toward Sasuke, but he was going to wait until Naruto was ready to tell him before making fun of him for it.

…

…

…

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The sound of his alarm going off was what woke the raven up from his slumber. Trying his hardest not to wake up, Sasuke reached his arm out and harshly slammed his fist against the alarm. He yawned and stretched out his muscles and achy bones. He looked around and quickly realized that he wasn't in the demon/human world anymore. He was home and resting snuggly in his bed. He used his hand to scratch the side of his head while yawning. Not exactly realizing what time it was, Sasuke reached over and grabbed his clock. His vision was blurry, but when it finally adjusted and he was able to see the time… he freaked.

"**I'M LATE!"** He yelled, throwing his clock and not caring that it landed on a sleeping Naruto's head.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his sore head.

"_**What's going on?"**_ A sleepy Itachi yawned while using one of his paws to whip his eye cutely.

Both questions went unanswered as they watched Sasuke run around like a mad man. "I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" He continually said while running around and getting his outfit picked out. "I still have so much to do. I have to shower, get my lunch and find a ride because I missed the fuckin bus! Damnit! Fuckin shit! Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Sasuke cursed while trying to get his shirt off.

Itachi and Naruto were both sitting on his bed and watching the display with confusion and boredom. Itachi though gave a little chuckle when Sasuke fell on his back trying to take his shirt off. Naruto just gave an annoyed groan as he messaged the bridge of his nose.

"Sasuke." Naruto called, capturing the attention of the struggling teen. "You're giving me a headache. If you're so worried about being late, I'll let you ride on my back and I'll take you to school. A day away from you will do me some good." Naruto said before getting up, strapping his sword to his back, and going towards the window with Itachi sitting on his shoulder. "I won't wait for long. You have ten minutes to be outside by time my offer expires. If you're not, then you'll have to find yourself our own ride." And with that Naruto jumped out of the room with Itachi on his shoulder.

Sasuke stood in his room and stared blankly. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard that Naruto just offered to give him a ride to school on his back. The fact that the half-demon is actually allowing Sasuke to touch him more than once is a good sign that at least some things are changing between them. Not trying to irritate Naruto further or miss this opportunity, Sasuke hurried to do his morning routine before going to meet the half-demon.

…

…

…

It was ten minutes exactly when Sasuke finished everything. The half-demon was calmly leaning against the tree with his arms crossed and his eye closed. When he sensed Sasuke approaching, he moved to get off the tree and stand in front of Sasuke.

"You made it right on time. I thought I was going to have to say that my offer was up." Naruto smirked. "You ready?"

Sasuke nodded before of thinking of something. "What are you going to do with your sword. I can't ride on your back if your giant sword in the way."

"When I put you on my back before, I held it in my hand because it's too big to go on my side. But this time~" Naruto grunted as he removed the blade from his back and stuck it in the ground behind the Sakura Tree. "I'm going to leave it here. None of my enemies can get to this world, and I highly doubt that my old man will come here, so I have no use for it now. I'll just leave it behind that tree so your parents won't see it. Out of sight, out of mind." Naruto calmly said. Sasuke nodded before watching Naruto turn around and kneel before him. "Now hurry and get on. I want to wait her anymore." Sasuke bent down, placed Itachi in his book bag, and climbed onto Naruto's back. Once he made sure that they were secured, Naruto stood up with a strong grip on Sasuke. "We're going to be traveling by roof top, so you're going to have to tell me where to go."

Sasuke didn't have time to properly nod as Naruto took off. They were soaring through the city with great speed. Sasuke marveled at the sights all around him. He'd never felt like this before. On Naruto's back, he felt free, light, and amazing. It felt unreal to be traveling this fast and yet they were. Sasuke was too busy enjoying the view that he almost missed Naruto's question.

"Where do I go?"

Realizing what Naruto asked, Sasuke looked around before pointing in the right direction. Naruto followed Sasuke's directions and soon they were on the roof of the school. With hesitation, Sasuke slid off the half-demon's back and removed Itachi from his book bag.

"Thanks for the lift, but as soon as I go into the building I want you two to go straight home and stay out of sight until I get there. If you want, you can hide out in my room. My parents don't go in there unless I'm there, so you should be safe. Itachi, make sure you keep an eye out on him. I don't want any of you getting into trouble or being seen by the others. I'm still getting used to having being paired up with a half demon and a talking cat, I don't know what I'd do if I had to explain you two to the world." Sasuke groaned.

"I don't see what the big deal is. So what if I'm discovered, it's not like it's going to cause a big crisis for anything." Naruto shrugged.

Sasuke sighed dramatically after face palming his forehead. "All I'm asking is for you two to stay out of trouble please." He pleaded.

"_**Don't worry, Sasuke I will do as you wish and keep both of us out of trouble."**_ Sasuke saluted with his tail.

I looked at Naruto. "What?" I raised my eyebrow to send him a message saying to stay out of trouble. He just rolled his eye and crossed his arms again. "Alright, alright. I'll stay out of trouble."

The raven sighed in relief until the bell rung for him to go to class. "I have to go." He turned to open the door before turning to face the two demons. "Go home after this. I mean it." He glared and left.

With an even pace, Sasuke made it too his homeroom on time. He leaned back into his chair and sighed. He was worried about Naruto heeding his words, but he knew that Itachi would keep him out of trouble. He didn't have a lot to worry about… he hoped.

"_**Hey Sasuke. Where have you been?" **_He turned to see his three friends approaching him.

"Shikamaru? Ino? Tenten? Is it really you?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course it's us. Who else would it be. What, did you forget us over the weekend?" Tenten teased as she flicked his forehead.

Sasuke laughed while messaging his forehead. "It's just good to see familiar faces after the weekend I had."

"We could tell you were busy. We've tried calling your phone, but you never picked up." Shikamaru stated.

"Yeah I saw that. But, trust me you weren't the only ones who couldn't reach me." Sasuke nervously laughed.

"What were you doing that whole time so no one can reach you?" Ino asked.

Memories and thoughts played in his head from the time he spent in Naruto's world, but he couldn't tell them that. So, he decided to be vague. "Let's just say I had my hands full this past weekend."

…

…

…

**Back on the Roof Top**

**Meanwhile…**

Naruto waited until Sasuke closed the door before turning around and leaving.

"_**And where do you think you're going?"**_ Itachi asked.

"I'm going to explore the city and you're coming along." Naruto said as he picked Itachi up and held him tightly in his arms.

"_**But, Sasuke said to go back home and stay out o sight."**_

"And do what? Be bored all day? No thanks. I think exploring this city will help the time pass faster." Naruto stated.

"_**But, what about being seen?"**_

"Relax. I'll just put an invisible barrier around us. We'll be able to see but no one can see us." Naruto said as he performed some hand signs. His hands began to glow red as he whipped it over both of them. "There. Now, we're in visible. Let's test it out, shall we?" The half-demon smirked before jumping off and landing on the ground.

Naruto made his way off the school grounds and into the city where people could be seen moving around. They waved in and out of traffic and even stood near humans, but no one noticed them.

"_**Wow. This is amazing. I didn't know you knew how to do magic."**_

"One of the perks you get when dating a magic user." Naruto shrugged.

Itachi jumped out of his friend's arm and stood facing him. _**"Kimuko taught you how to use magic?"**_

"Yeah. She taught me while she was learning. We pretty much took every class together." Naruto explained. Itachi nodded in understanding. Naruto looked around and marveled at all the sights he was seeing. "So why does this world look so much more… advance than our world?"

"_**Unlike demons, humans experience constant change and develop new ways to improve their lives. They prefer convince over doing things the hard way."**_

"Explains why the humans in our world are a lot stronger than these humans." Naruto theorized. He moved to the window of a store that sold fast food. "What is this place? They're serving delicious food I had never smelt or seen before." It made the half-demon's mouth water.

"_**This place is known as McDonalds."**_

"Mac how?"

The rest of the day went on like this. Itachi guided Naruto through the city and explained to him what every new thing was. They were some things that scared him a little and there were other things Itachi had to drag Naruto from with his teeth. He even had to stop the half-demon when he almost ran into a vender selling ramen noodles. The most time they spent was at the park where Itachi had to help Naruto understand how each piece of equipment worked.

Naruto was just learning how to swing on a swing when Itachi noticed the time. _**"Sasuke will be home soon. It's time to leave, Naruto."**_

Naruto looked down at Itachi and pouted. "Fine, but you had better bring me back here some other time."

"_**That's a promise."**_ Itachi smiled.

"I'm going to hold you to that." Naruto stated before lifting the cat in his arms and speeding off to Sasuke's house.

…

…

…

They had got there before Sasuke, giving Naruto time to remove the spell and lean against the back of the tree like they had been home all day.

"_**How was your day, Sasuke?"**_ Itachi asked.

"It was fine. How was yours? Did you stay here like I told you to?"

"Yes. We just stayed outside and watched the Sakura peddles fall and took a nap in the refreshing sun. Thanks for leaving us here to be bored all day." Naruto grunted out his lie.

"Well forgive me if I'd rather you be bored than get exposed to the public." Sasuke glared.

"Whatever. Did you at least make some type of break through last night before passing out on the floor?" Naruto asked.

"You saw me sleeping?" Sasuke said with shyness in his voice.

"Yeah. We came to check on you and found that you were sleeping on the floor with the scrolls around you, which by the way you shouldn't do. So to save you from feeling sore, stiff and sick I placed you into bed and then went to sleep myself." Naruto explained, causing Sasuke to blush. Naruto saw the light blush and turned his head away from the sight. He had a light blush of his own, but his bandages cover it. "So did you find anything?"

That snapped Sasuke out of his blushing state. "Yeah I did. I think that after studying it for a little while longer, I should a good idea as to where to find the other three soon."

"_**Good work Sasuke. You should go upstairs and try to finish up. The war will not wait for anyone, not even Naruto."**_ Itachi said.

"Right. I'll finish looking at the scrolls while you two stay out here. I'll bring you some food for lunch and dinner. Until then I'll be in my room if you need me." And with that, Sasuke turned around and went inside the house.

He brought food for Naruto and Itachi before heading upstairs to his room to finish looking at the scrolls.

…

…

…

An hour or so passed before Sasuke wanted to take a break. He went downstairs to get something to drink and a snake. The door bell rung and to his surprise Ino, Shika, and TenTen were standing there.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke asked in worry.

"We just wanted to hang out. Is that a crime now?" Tenten teased pushing her way through into the house.

"No, but I was studying."

"Oh Sasuke, you study too much. If you didn't have us to check on you, you'd kill yourself from studying too much." Ino laughed.

"Yeah but~" Sasuke only sighed before closing the door and following them upstairs. "Let me guess, they dragged you along too?"

"Not really. I wanted to get out of my house. My mom was being a real drag again. I figured this was the perfect excuse to leave." Shikamaru shrugged.

They reached Sasuke's room and that's when the raven quickly realized that he had to put the scrolls up. He moved around the house and quickly scooped up all the scrolls except one.

"What exactly are you studying? These scrolls look ancient." Tenten said as she held the last scroll.

Sasuke quickly snatched it from her and put them all in his desk's drawer. "These were just some scrolls my father gave me to look over. There's nothing really interesting in them, so no need to look at 'em." The raven nervously laughed.

"You're acting weird, Sasuke. Are you ok?" Ino asked.

"I'm fine." He quickly said. "Tea anyone?" Everyone mumbled about having some tea before Sasuke raced downstairs to get some.

While he was gone, Tenten and Ino went into his desk and pulled out two of the scrolls.

"What are you two doing?" Shikamaru asked.

"We're looking at the scrolls Sasuke was reading. Isn't it obvious?" Ino said.

"But, didn't he tell us that there was nothing in there? Why would you look at something that's completely useless?"

"It can't be all that useless if Sasuke's looking at it. I mean, Sasuke had to be looking at them for a reason. And we all know that he doesn't waste his time on useless things. So, let's open these scrolls and see what's inside of them." Tenten suggested as she handed Shikamaru one.

The brunet was about to protest, but the two girls had already started opening theirs. Shikamaru had to admit that he was curious too. The three of them almost had all three of the scrolls open when Sasuke came in the room.

"**DON'T OPEN THOSE!"** The raven shouted as he dropped the tea.

But it was too late. The scroll started to activate and a wind whirled around them. Papers, their clothing and hair blew with the wind in his room. Soon everything calmed down. They opened their eyes and saw three glowing weapons come out of each scroll. The scroll that Tenten was holding had a bow and arrows coming out of it. Ino's scroll had a belt of knives. And Shikamaru had a staff with black smoke dancing around it. Each teen grabbed the weapons and held them in their hands.

"Amazing… The three Secret Weapons reacted to the three of you. Who would've guessed it." Sasuke smirked to himself as he used his fingers to try and fix his hair.

"Sasuke… What's going on?" His three friends asked with worry and confusion in their voices.

"Help me clean this place up and then I'll explain everything."

…

…

…

The four of them cleaned his room up and were currently sitting in his room with the weapons in their laps. Sasuke had just finished explaining everything to them. It was quiet as they absorbed the information into their minds.

"So let me get this straight…" Shikamaru started. "You're some love interest of a half-demon that's been sleeping for a thousand years in his world, but 16 years in our world?"

"And it was your job to wake him up, so his chakra pulled you down the well in your shrine to do that, but once you got there the half-demon's grandparents told you that you have to fight in a war between said half-demon, his father, and his brother?" Tenten added on.

"And you also mean to tell us that your cat, Itachi, can talk and has been guiding and fighting with you this whole time?" Ino continued.

"I know sounds crazy too. I've been through all of that and I still don't believe it." Sasuke nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head.

"Ok… so now let's talk about these weapons. Why did they choose us?" Ino asked.

"Frankly, I don't really know. All I know was that when I was inside the well for the first time, I had picked my sword and left the other three alone. It wasn't until we got back from our fight with Hidan that Tsunade and Jiraiya told us that there were three others, with strong chakra, that were supposed to help us fight in the war against Naruto's father and brother. So, to sum it up… I guess you were the ones that are destined to help us win the war." Sasuke explained.

The three of them looked at each other before nervously laughing. "I don't know what you've been smoking, but I think you need to stop." Tenten said.

"It's the truth. Come outside with me and I'll show you the well, Naruto and Itachi." Sasuke said.

"Alright. We'll come, but just to prove to you that your high is off." Shikamaru said as they all followed him to the shrine with the weapons in their hands.

…

…

…

Sasuke went to the Sakura tree and saw that Naruto, Itachi, nor Naruto's sword was there. "They must be inside the shrine." Sasuke said before going to open the shrine's doors.

The four teens step into the shrine and saw Itachi sitting there in front of the well.

"_**Meow."**_

"Where's Naruto, Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke, you're cat is not~" Before Ino could finished her statement, Itachi disappeared.

To see the cat disappear in front of their eyes caused the teens to back up. "Itachi?" Sasuke called. Everyone started to violently shake when they heard the cat give out a fearful screech. "Naruto? Itachi? Come you two this isn't funny anymore." Sasuke called out in a shaky voice.

"Sasuke, there is no Naruto. Now hurry up and find Itachi so we can get out of here." TenTen as she coward behind Shikamaru.

Just then, a loud whaling, moan was heard. They back up further and wanted to scream when they saw a clawed hand appeared out of the well. Naruto stopped moaning when more than half of his body was out of the well. He looked at the shaking teen with one wide, blue eye before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Naruto…? Itachi…?" Sasuke called with fear in his voice.

Having a weird feeling, the four teens turned around and saw Naruto and Itachi standing there. _**"BOO!"**_ The two yelled.

The four of them screamed, but only Ino, Shikamaru, and Tenten fainted. Sasuke stumbled back and gripped the sides of the well while trying to slow down his racing heart. As he was trying to do that, Itachi and Naruto were busy laughing their asses off.

"That was the funniest prank ever!" Naruto laughed.

"_**That was so funny. I'm glad you talked me into it."**_ Itachi chuckled.

"You two think you're really funny don't you." Sasuke said as he stood before them with a glare on his face and his arms crossed.

"Oh lighten up Sasuke. You have to admit that that was a good joke." Naruto smirked. "I mean you should've seen the look on your face the whole time. Man I wish I had a picture of that."

"_**Indeed Sasuke. You're face was quite comical when the whole time."**_

"So you two think that giving me a heart attack and making my friends faint is funny?" Sasuke yelled.

"Yes. Yes it is." Naruto admitted truthfully.

"Ugh! You drive me crazy! I ought to~" Sasuke started, but stopped when he heard his friends waking up. "Are you guys ok?" He asked as he sat next to them. "Naruto, Itachi, apologize to them right now!"

"Aright Mother Hen." The three teens were confused as to who Sasuke was talking to until Naruto crouched in front of them. "I'm sorry."

"_**Yes. I am sorry as well."**_ Itachi bowed in respect.

"**AHHHHHH! TALKING MUMMY! TALKING CAT!" **The three yelled before fainting again.

"You guys?" Sasuke yelled at them.

"**THAT WASN'T EVEN US THAT TIME!"** Naruto yelled before standing up and crossing his arms. "Besides, they insulted me. I don't look like a mummy."

"Naruto. You're covered in bandages from head to toe. So yes, you do look like a mummy." Sasuke argued.

"_**You guys. They're waking up again."**_ Itachi said. He sat on Shikamaru's stomach and watched as they started to wake up. _**"How are you three feeling?"**_

"**AHHH TALKING CAT!"**

"Don't faint." Sasuke said moving to crouch in front of them. "Please don't faint." He helped everyone stand on their feet before moving to stand next to Naruto. Everyone, this is Naruto. He's the half demon I was telling you about. Naruto, this is Ino, Tenten, and Shikamaru. They're the ones that are going to help us in the war."

"Hey. Sorry for scaring you I guess." Naruto shrugged.

"So everything that Sasuke said was true. Itachi can really talk and Naruto really does exist… So that means that the well really is a gateway between this world and a demon world." Tenten said, still in a state of shock.

"Of course it's all true. How dumb are you guys?" Naruto snorted.

"This is what happens when you're discovered. This is what I'm talking about." Sasuke said to Naruto with a frustrated sigh.

"Damn, if this is what happens and it's only you three… then the whole would be thrown into chaos if they found out about use. Man that's annoying." Naruto grunted.

"_**And now you know why I had to remain quiet for 16 years."**_ Itachi added.

"So, we really are destined to help you in that war on the other side, huh?" Ino asked.

"Yes. And if we want to end this war quickly and easily, then we must leave as soon as possible." Sasuke stated.

"I get to help Sasuke save the world? Yay!" Ino cheered as she jumped in place.

"I've always wanted to go on an adventure. This life was getting too boring away." Tenten smirked with her hands on her hips.

"This is a major drag. Saving the world isn't really on my agenda, but if I must… then I _**guess **_I'll help… but I won't like it." Shikamaru sighed as he ran his hand down his face. "But, what are we going to tell our folks? I mean we can't just walk up to them and say 'Bye mom and dad I have to go to another world and fight in a war.' That'll just be ludicrous." Shikamaru said.

"Right. That's why I've come up with an excuse to tell our parents that will explain our absences." Sasuke answered.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Tenten asked with an eyebrow arched.

Sasuke began to tell them the excuse they were going to use while Naruto took a set on the edge of the well.

"_These are supposed to be the kids I'm supposed to take into war with me? Tsk. I'm too old to be babysitting a bunch of humans."_ Naruto thought to himself as she watched the four teens talk about the plans for this point on.

…

**To Be Continued…**

**Next time on 'Timers'…**

The gang fool their parents and enter the well to Naruto's world. While they're there you'll see more tender moments between Naruto and Sasuke.


	6. Restlessness

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Tender moments between Naruto and Sasuke.

**Author's Shout Outs: **

I have to give a shout out to a reviewer who sent me the funniest review I have ever read. This shout out goes to _**Mecheela**_. Their review made me smile and laugh the whole time. I had to give them this shout out to show how much I appreciated it. So thank you _**Mecheela **_and I hope to hear from you again.

I would also like to give a shout out to _**Rose Haven**_ for catching one of my typos in the last chapter. Thanks for picking up my slack again lol.

This shout out goes to _**Kyla InuMaru. **_They gave an awesome review that made me smile the whole time. It is an honor to have someone like this to love my other stories. But, what made this were special was that they reviewed and was hooked and they only read the preview. I hope that they enjoy this story and my style of writing. I also hope that they, as well as everyone else, keeps reviewing, They're definitely encourage and makes me write more. It tells me that people actually enjoy my writing and want to see more. So thanks.

**Chapter 5: Restlessness**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

"Are we ready?" I asked the group.

"All set!" Ino smiled.

"Ready as ever, I guess." Shikamaru sighed.

"Lead the way." Tenten smirked.

"_**Yep." **_Itachi nodded.

"Can we get this show on the road? I'm tired of sitting on my ass here." Naruto sighed.

Currently we were standing in the shrine in front the well we're going to cross through. Each of us had book bags on our backs with everything needed to help us survive in the other world. I made sure to tell them to pack food, clean clothing and underwear, whatever female toiletries for Tenten and Ino, and other little things that we thought were important and lightweight for us to travel with. The story I came up with for our parents wasn't too complicated and practically full proof. The story was that we were selected to go on a several week long trip to Kyoto to study over there and help us prepare for college. All four sets of our parents bought the story, didn't ask questions and even helped us pack. Once everything was set in motion, we agreed to meet up here so that we can jump through the well together.

When I told them to bring clothes, I made sure that they brought something they would be comfortable fighting in. Ino wore a purple halter-top dress that stops at her mid-thigh, white ripped leggings, purple knee high open-toed 2-inch boots, wrist high fishnet fingerless gloves and her belt was securely tied around her waist. Her long bleach blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail and reached her hips, spare the shoulder length bang that covered her right eye. Shikamaru had on a simple black wife beater, combat boots , fingerless wrist high gloves, and camouflage sweat pants that tucked into his combat boots. His brown hair was pulled into a high, spiked ponytail. He held his staff in his right hand. Tenten had on a white high collared opened sleeveless cloak that reached her ankles and had a long split that started the bottom and stopped at her butt, a red crop top that exposed her toned stomach, black wrist length shorts, and black ankle high 2-inch sandals. Her brunette hair was fashioned into two Chinese buns on each side of her head. Her bow was secured behind her, above her butt, and her quiver was strapped to her left shoulder with at least fifty arrows in it. I changed my outfit too, but not much. I only put on a sleeveless high collared black formfitting shirt with my clan's symbol on the back, black skinny jeans, a black and silver belt crossing around my waist, and black combat boots with silver buckles. I placed my sword on my left side and secured my book bag on my back.

I looked out the corner of my eye and saw that Naruto was checking me out before narrowing his one eye. "What now?" I sighed.

"Do you _**have **_to wear a shirt with the Uchiha's symbol? I liked your other shirt. It was less annoying." Naruto started.

"If you're so annoyed by it, then don't look at it." I said while rolling my eyes.

"How can I not look at it?! It's practically screaming 'look at me'. You wore that shirt to torment me, didn't you?" He narrowed his eye more as he moved his bandaged face closer to mine.

"You're annoying." I sighed.

"Do they always argue?" Shikamaru asked.

"_**This is how they communicate. This their way of saying that they like each other."**_

"**SHUT UP ITACHI!" **Naruto and I screamed before turning away from each other with our arms folded.

"_**Alright kids. It's time to jump through the well and see what the other side has to offer you. Now, since you three don't know anything about the demon world, be sure to pay attention to everything we say. Are you two ready?" **_Itachi questioned while looking at Naruto and me.

"Whatever." We both answered.

Itachi jumped in first, Ino, Tenten, and Shikamaru were next. I looked at the well before looking at a chuckling Naruto.

"You better hurry up. You know you're helpless without us around." And with that, the half-demon back flipped inside the well.

I rolled my eyes as I put on knee onto the edge of the well. "Bastard." I snorted before jumping in.

…

…

…

"So these are the three that are destined to help us win the war? They're not bad looking I'll give them that." Tsunade plainly stated. I looked over and saw that Jiraiya tried to touch Tenten and Ino, but they stopped him. Ino kneed him in his stomach and Tenten used her strength to flip him over her shoulder and onto the ground. "I like them already." Tsunade smirked.

"Yes. They have potential." Jiraiya grunted as he got off the ground. "They will do well in the war, but they will still need to be trained. What I suggest is that you take them to Gaara, but be sure to test how well they can handle those weapons without training. That'll at least let Gaara know how much training he'll have to give them."

"Take them into the fields and test them." Tsunade waved off.

"We just got here and now we have to be tested? Awe, can't we rest for a moment?" Shikamaru whined.

"NO. Now come on. How are we supposed to help Sasuke-kun and Naruto-sama if we don't get stronger?" Ino scolded as she dragged him out of the hut.

"I think Imma like her." Naruto stated while walking out of the hut and leading us to the field behind the village. "Alright you three, this field is where I'm going to test your current handling ability with your weapons.

"_**I'll go first." **_Itachi said before moving to a nearby tree. He used his claws to scratch an x into the bark. _**"Tenten, aim your arrow at that x. Don't stop until you hit it perfectly."**_

Tenten reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow after unhooking her bow from behind her. She took aim, pulled the arrow back and shot it. It didn't go far. In fact, it actually landed on the ground before the tree. She tried again. She got closer this time. It landed on the bark, but at the base. She kept trying, but never managed to hit the x. The last arrow she shot almost his Itachi, but Naruto caught it before it could.

"Have you ever had any experience with archery?" Naruto asked as he handed that one arrow back to her.

"I used to be really good at it when I was a kid, but because of an 'accident', I had to stop. Ha. I guess I got a little rusty." She laughed while scratching the back of her head nervously.

"I suggest you keep practicing. You're going to have to need a refresher course and few more lessons. Once you get those, you should be able to handle this weapon more efficiently." Tenten nodded at Naruto. The half-demon turned to Ino and Shikamaru. "I want you two to go against each other. You two will not hit each other, I just want to see if you guys can fight regularly and how fast you guys can try to figure out the best way to use your weapons."

"But, I don't know how to use a staff. And from the looks of it, this isn't a staff you can regularly fight with." Shikamaru observed.

"_**You're smarter than one would've guessed. That staff is not meant of combat. It's meant to cast spells of all kinds, but depending on what you can control depends on the spells you cast."**_

"Well, what can I control?" The lazy teen asked.

"_**Judging from the black smoke around it, I'd say anything that has something to do with darkness and shadows. I suggest you try focusing on your shadow and using it to your advantage."**_ Itachi suggested.

The two teens squared off. Ino reached down and removed six knives. She held three in between her fingers on each hand. Shikamaru held onto his staff tightly. Ino started first. She ran towards Shika while throwing her knives. She missed him and the one that actually was about to hit him, flown past his arm and grazed it. Shikamaru did as Itachi told him to do and focused his energy into his shadow and his staff. Suddenly, his shadow lifted off the ground and flew at Ino. It grabbed her legs and held her in place. She tried to move, but it was useless. So she kept throwing knives at him. The angrier she got, the more accurate she got. Shika dodged her knives before commanding his shadow to wrap around her arms and bound them.

'_**Well it's plain to see the winner. Good job Shikamaru." **_Itachi congratulated.

"It's good to see that not all of you aren't a lost cause." Naruto nodded as he moved to help Ino. "I saw that you started to become more accurate as your anger rose. You're going to have to learn to control your accuracy and temper before going into battle. It wouldn't be good if you couldn't do it and you were fighting for your life. You and Tenten have a lot of work to do. Shikamaru on the other hand was able to figure out how to use his staff almost perfectly. He's still going to need a lot of training but he came closer to my expectations than the rest of you." Naruto stated.

"Gee, thanks Naruto." Tenten rolled her eyes as she collected all of her arrows.

"Come on. I'm going to report back into Tsunade and Jiraiya. Once I do that we can make our way to where Gaara is."

"Wait!" I called out, causing Naruto to stop in his tracks. "You haven't tested me yet."

"Why bother? I already know the extent of your power which is very low by the way." Naruto shrugged.

"I bet I can take you on." I snorted while standing in my fight poss.

"That sounds like a challenge." He smirked. I stared him down to let him know I was serious. "Fine then, but if anything happens to you… It's not my fault." He smirked as he pulled out his sword and readied himself.

We stood facing each other. I don't know how long we ended up staring each other down, but it was too long. I decided to make the first move. I gave a battle cry as I charged at him. He followed suit after seeing what I was doing. We charged at each other, expecting out swords to clash… but that didn't happen. When our swords finally did clash, a bright light engulfed us and send us flying back.

I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I opened my eyes to see what was happening, but the only thing I saw was Naruto rushing towards me. We collided and rolled on the ground together of a little bit. When we finally stopped, I was on top of him. His body felt so warm under mine. I would've stayed there for a while longer, but decided against it he started to groan.

"Sorry." I mumbled while helping him to his feet.

We looked over to our swords. They were just lying on the ground. His was glowing red while mine was glowing icy blue. We hesitantly reached down to grab out sword, but snatched our hands back when we touched them.

"Damn, that's hot." Naruto hissed as he held his hand.

"Mine's is freezing." I hissed also.

We looked down at our weapons until they stopped glowing. Wed looked at each other again before moving to pick them up again. This time… they felt normal.

"What just happened? Why did they react like that?" Ino asked.

"_**I'm not entirely sure. Come, let's ask Tsunade and Jiraiya what this might be about."**_

…

…

…

"You saw that when they clashed with each other, they started to glow two different elements? That is defiantly weird, but not unheard of." Tsunade said as she put both swords down.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"I mean, because Sasuke's sword is made from the same material and forged by the same energy as yours, it only makes sense they would react to one another in such a matter. It's only more proof of the importance of the bond between the two of you. My suggestion… Naruto, you should be the one to train Sasuke. You want the battle's odds to be tipped further in your favor, then you have to be the one that will help increase Sasuke's power while also strengthening your bond with one another. The facts are there Naruto. It's up to you to follow them… if you want to win of course." Jiraiya stated.

I saw the all of the thoughts that were running through his head flash in his beautiful blue eye. I was actually worried. He thought some more before grabbing his sword and strapping it to his back and heading towards the hut's entrance.

"It's going to take us a week to get to Gaara. You've had your rest and you shouldn't be tired considering that you didn't really do anything. We're going to head out now to save some time. Let's go."

I watched Ino, Itachi, Shikamaru, and Tenten head out of the hut. I stayed behind for a little bit. I had a lot to think about, but what had my attention the most was the thought of if any future intentions from Naruto were based off of his desire to win or because he actually means it. I stood up, grabbed my sword and headed to the front of the hut… thinking that if that question were to ever be asked… Naruto's answer would be the latter.

…

…

…

**Day 6**

The sunlight fell on my face, causing me to wake up. I slowly lifted off the ground and stretched my bones into place. I looked up and squinted at the beautiful sunlight. I looked around and saw that everyone else was still sleeping. I looked up and saw Naruto sitting on a branch above me. He wasn't sleeping, he was just thinking. Thinking… Like I was.

"Alright kiddos." Naruto said after jumping down. "Tomorrow, we'll be meeting up with Gaara and your training will begin. So that you guys don't die out there, today can be considered a relaxing day. Do whatever you want today." Naruto announced before disappearing.

"Good. Finally a day I can rest." Shikamaru yawned.

"Is that all you're going to do all day? Sleep?" Ino glared.

"You got it." The lazy teen replied, causing Ino to roll her eyes.

"Fine then. Do as you wish. Come on Tenten. Let's work on our skills. You wanna come, Sasuke-kun?"

"No thanks. I'm going to do some thinking." I replied before walking away.

I walked into the forest and just found a nice tree to sit by. I wanted to do some thinking without the others around. I didn't want to let anything bother me or interfere with that. These past six days were quiet and relaxing. Naruto managed to bond with everyone else except me. I was thinking too much anyway to care.

I kept thinking, but I felt restless. I don't know why, but there was something that kept bothering me. By time I stopping thinking, the sun was setting. I decided to do some exploring. I ended up stumbling onto a hot spring, something I needed. I stripped down and slipped into the heated water. It felt good against my sore muscles, but did little to sooth my mind. I stayed in for a little while longer before hopping out and redressing.

"_**Glad to see you enjoying yourself."**_

I jumped up and almost into the hot spring, but was able to stop myself. In front of me and saw Naruto leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"What are you doing here? How long have you been there?" I asked nervously.

"I came around right when you were putting on your shirt. I didn't know you were really that pale. Do you ever go outside? What are you some type of sun feared human or something." He teased.

"What do you want?" I sighed.

"Do you want to take a walk with me?"

What he said caught me completely off guard. "What?"

"Do you… want to… take a walk… with me…?" He asked slowly.

"Why do you want me to go with you?"

"I saw that you've been thinking and being restless all day, just like me. I figured we can try and ease each other's minds."

I took in what he said before hesitantly nodding. He led me further into the forest. It started to get dark. I would've been scared if Itachi wasn't there to watch over them. We soon stopped by a river and sat down. Naruto created fire in his hand before throwing it out onto the water and making it dance. I watched in amazement at the sight before me.

"Hey, Naruto… If you can do all these amazing things and have so much strength, why do you need me, Ino, Itachi, Shikamaru, Tenten, and whoever else to help you win? Can't you just sneak into your father's home and kill both your brother and Minato?" I asked, turning to look at him.

He let the fire die down before falling backwards and sighing. "I'm not strong enough. I will never be strong enough."

"What do you mean you're not strong enough? From what I've seen, you're pretty strong to me." I replied.

"I'm strong enough to defeat Kyuubi, no problem. My father is who I'm worried about. He's a sadist as well as a tyrant. He gets off my raw, demonic powers that lie dormant within me. I'm pretty sure Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Itachi told you why I wear all of these bandages, but they're only half right. It's true that I hate my demonic features, because they're from my father, but I also use these bandages to hide the damage that bastard did to me the whole time I was in his capture." He calmly explained. It seemed to me he was speaking from his memory, as if he was reliving it.

"What… happened?" I asked cautiously.

"When I was twelve years old, I went out to find get some firewood. I had finally collected enough when Minato appeared before me. He wanted me to become his next heir. He said that because I was more like his son than Kyuubi he didn't deserve such an honor. I told him to go fuck himself and he got really pissed off. He kidnapped me and took me back to his palace where I was held captive. From the start, I did not like any of his servants and they didn't like me. In fact, they hated Kyuubi and I. They only respected us because we were his sons, but I digress. During the time I spent there, I was forced to undergo harsh and brutal training. The old man wanted me to make sure that I would use my demonic powers. They're what give me my true strength, but whenever I did… I would lose myself and turn into a monster. That's what Minato loved. He loved the person I would turn into. I made him so proud. I hated every moment of it and all I wanted to do was escape. Kyuubi was the one that came to me one night and told me not only how to escape, but also how to turn human and remove all traces of demon in me. He said that Minato told him how to do. He told Kyuubi that I was a disappointment and that Kyuubi was his rightful heir. So, of course he was jumping with joy when he told me what to do. The task was simple too. All I had to do was steal Minato's left eye and use the magic from it to turn human. Without hesitation, I charged into his room and engaged him in battle and was defeated. When he had me down Minato told the truth. He lied to Kyuubi. He used this to test my ability and my courage. He wanted to see if I had the guts to take him on. I was able to get out, but not before we both of us making marks on each other. Wounded severely, I made it back to the village. From that day on, I vowed to kill Minato and Kyuubi. They were both going to pay. Kyuubi for my mother and Minato for what he did to me." He concluded with his eye closed and his breathing coming out even.

We stayed quiet for a little bit. I actually thought he had fallen asleep, so when he slowly rose to his feet you could imagine the slight start it caused.

"Sasuke…" I stood up, letting him know that he had my attention. "I want to train you."

Again, what he had said stunned me into almost silence. "Why?"

"I have my reasons, and before you start thinking that it has something to do with what Tsunade and Jiraiya said… don't. I have my own agenda, but it's not one I can share with you right now." I nodded at his words and watched as he turned around. "Let's get back to the others."

I followed him and continued to let his words dance in my head alone with all the questions that came from it too.

…

…

…

The next morning, we woke up bright and early in order to make it to Gaara in record time. We arrived in the middle of nowhere with only a sand done in the middle of nowhere. The sand started to disappear and a small boy with brick red hair, black circles, and raccoon dog traits.

"Gaara… I need your help with some… new recruits." Naruto said with his arms folded.

The one called Gaara looked at the four of us with a glare on his face before sighing.

"_**Naruto… why must you always have to bring me the toughest jobs…?"**_

…

**To Be Continued…**

**Next Time on 'Timers'…**

Gaara trains the gang and Naruto starts to feel some regret.


	7. My Apologies and Uncertainties

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Nothing too bad.

**Author's Announcement: **I'm sorry for whoever reviewed this story and did not get mention. But whoever reviews this chapter I will make sure that you are mentioned in the next chapter. I would also like to thank everyone who is still with me even though I have not been updating like I want to. Thanks everyone for understanding and staying with me. I can't promise that I will be able to update like I am able to do this week all the time, but I can promise that I will update when I can and that each chapter will make up for it.

**Author's Shout Outs:**

_**Dragon77**_, don't worry. The fights won't really stop, but they're going to be more like teasing for Naruto just to spike Sasuke's temper.

_**Rose Haven,**_ thank you again for being my grammar and spelling checker and for being a loyal fan. She's stuck by me since my early SasuNaru days and has yet to lose interest in me and I hope to keep it that way.

**Last Time on 'Timers"**

_The next morning, we woke up bright and early in order to make it to Gaara in record time. We arrived in the middle of nowhere with only a sand done in the middle of nowhere. The sand started to disappear and a small boy with brick red hair, black circles, and raccoon dog traits._

"_Gaara… I need your help with some… new recruits." Naruto said with his arms folded._

_The one called Gaara looked at the four of us with a glare on his face before sighing._

"_**Naruto… why must you always have to bring me the toughest jobs…?"**_

**Chapter 6: My Apologies and Uncertainties**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

**(1 Week Later)**

"Come on, Sasuke. I always knew that you were weak, but not this weak. You shame the Uchiha name just like the rest of your pathetic clan." Naruto shouted as he leaned against his sword.

"_I wonder if he's trying to really kill me because he dislikes me?"_

I was currently on my hands and knees, panting from exhaustion from all of the training Naruto was putting me through. To be honest, I'm still a little shocked that the fox half breed said that he would train me. I pestered him about it for a whole day and the only thing I able to get out of him was the fact that he wanted to train me because he refused to have a weak 'partner' when we face his father. Personally, I think there is more motive than he's leading on. But, then again… I'm not surprised. Another truth… I'm actually jealous of Ino, Shikamaru, and TenTen.

Every time I see them train with Gaara, it's nowhere near as hard as hard as when Naruto trains me. In fact, Gaara asked his two siblings: Kankuro and Temari, as well as a bear demon named Choji to help him train the trio while I'm stuck fighting not only Naruto, but my own body. He and I would spend literally from sun up to sun down training with him never breaking a sweat and with me about to pass out only to wake up and do it all over again.

Don't get me wrong. I like the perks of training with Naruto. I can feel more and more power and well as strength flowing through my veins, but I can also feel how well worn my body is becoming. I can feel the tenderness as well as the achiness that comes with every movement and every rare second Naruto would let me rest. Sometimes I want to say something and yell at him, but I can't have him thinking that I'm weaker than I truly am. I'm going to show him that I'm different than any Uchiha he's ever met. I'm going to make him see that I am more than an Uchiha. I'm going to show him that I **AM **Sasuke Uchiha.

With all of the strength I have in my body, I forced myself to stand on my shaky legs and tighten my grip on the hilt on my sword. I struggled a little when I noticed my vision was going in and out of focus, but I held on strong. This was something I needed to do.

"Well… Looks like little Sasuke still has some fight in him." Naruto smirked before lifting his sword and pointing it at me. "Come at me. Let's see how you hold up."

I panted a few times as I gripped my sword until my knuckles were white and moving into my fighting stance. I waited a few moments for my vision to adjust before rushing at him with a loud battle cry. Right now, as I ran towards Naruto, I could feel that the others had stopped their training to watch me. Their eyes were glued to me, but I didn't care. There was only one thing I wanted to do… and that was to prove myself to Naruto.

I ran as fast as I can. My blood pounded in my ears the harder and faster I ran. I was about to reach Naruto when I felt everything stop. My vision began to fade and my head felt like it was spinning. I felt… really weak. Soon I slowed to not even a walk before I started falling. My world was black and void. The only thing I thought I felt were Naruto's arms catch me… But that's just a stupid wish… Just a stupid wish…

**Naruto's P.O.V.**

I was beyond confused at this point. One minute I was waiting for Sasuke's attack and the next the raven was passed out in my arms.

"**SASUKE?!"** I heard the others shout before running over to us.

"_**What happened?"**_ Itachi asked.

"I… I don't know…" Was all I said while looking down at Sasuke's back.

"Naruto, set him on the ground so that I can take a look at him." Gaara commanded.

I nodded and did as he said. I turned Sasuke over and gently laid him next to his sword. As I straightened my back, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He looked paler than normal and very weak. There were scratches and bruises that littered his body that I had never seen before. My eye traveled up and down his small frame and took in everything from the bruises that littered his body to his unmoving chest. And as I did all of that… I couldn't help but noticed that I was… worried about the human Uchiha…

"_I'm worried about an Uchiha."_

We all watched as Gaara stood up and dusted himself off. "Did you find anything Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"He's not well. He is very ill and exhausted." My friend said before turning his glaring eyes towards me. _**"YOU worked him too hard."**_

I tensed at Gaara's accusation and realized that he was right. For an entire week, I trained him intensely from sunup to sundown. I didn't really pay attention to his needs and the fact that he's not like me. Sasuke is a human and he has more limitations than me. If he dies… it would be my fault. As I looked into the others' eyes, I could see that I was right.

Sighing heavily, I bent down at Sasuke's side. I stared at the frail boy for a few seconds before reaching down, removing one of his bangs from his face and lifting him into my arms. "I will take care of him until he is back to normal. The rest of you will continue your training until further notice. Gaara, bring me the Uch~ Sasuke's sword when you're finished training for the day." Was all I said before moving to Gaara's house.

My red headed friend's house looked like a smaller version of a manor encased in sand. Something I'd expect for Gaara's tastes. We each had our own room and knowing that Sasuke would freak waking in my room, so I placed him in his. I removed his shoes before tucking him into bed. I removed my sword from my back, placed it against the wall, and kneeled besides Sasuke's bed. I had a lot of thinking to do and most of it revolved around someone who's supposed to be my charge.

"_**NARUTO UZUMAKI! What the hell do you think you're doing out there?! Are you trying to kill him?!"**_ Itachi scolded as he walked into the room.

"I know Itachi… I'm sorry." I said softly, never taking my eyes off of Sasuke.

"_**What were you thinking? Sasuke is only human. Unlike you, he has limitations. He can't train from sunup to sundown for entire week. Although I'm surprised he lasted this long." **_Both Itachi and I turned to look at Sasuke in silence. _**"I swear, Naruto… You can be such an idiot sometimes."**_ Itachi sighed.

"You're right. I am an idiot. I over worked him without considering the consequences. I completely ignored them and became totally selfish. I only wanted him to get stronger so that I wouldn't be laughed when we went into battle. I also didn't want to have to worry about him while I fight because I know that I can't be there to always save him. I was too selfish and now he's really weak. The worst part of it is… If he dies… then it'll be my fault." I said sadly.

"_**Just answer me one thing… Were you trying to kill him on purpose?"**_

"Of course not. I just wanted to push him to his limits and than a little further. But, I can clearly see that I went more than overboard. I'm sorry for being an idiot. I'm sorry for everything. But mostly… I'm sorry for doing this to you Sasuke…"

"Naruto…" Sasuke weakly whispered, causing Itachi and me to jump slightly.

We waited to see if anything else would happen, but when nothing did we relaxed. _**"He's just dreaming."**_ Itachi sighed before looking at me with a weird look.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"_**You're heart."**_

"Huh? What are you talking about now?"

I watched as Itachi moved into my lap and place his ear to my chest. When he pulled away, there was a smirk on his feline face.

"_**You're heart is beating really fast… Could it be for Sasuke?"**_ He questioned in a teasing tone.

I used my hand to push him out of my lap with a huff. "Don't be ridiculous. My heart will never beat for a Uchiha… Ever again…" I stated before turning to look at Sasuke's sleeping form.

"_**I don't know Naruto… I think it's starting to again."**_ He teased again.

Feeling a vein pop in my head, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. _**"Why don't you make yourself useful and go tell Gaara to bring me some water, bandages, and herbs so that I can heal Sasuke instead of spewing nonsense about me liking Sasuke." **_I glared while putting him down.

"_**Fine, but I know what I know. And I KNOW that you're starting to develop some type of feelings for my owner."**_ Itachi smirked as he walked out of Sasuke's room with his tail, butt and nose in the air.

"_Hn. Stupid cat. Doesn't know what he's talking about. He obviously needs his hearing checked."_ I thought as I looked back at the sleeping boy, Itachi's words rolling around in my head. _"After all… I learned my lesson the first time when it came to falling for Uchihas."_

With nothing else to do, I moved to lean against the wall with my sword in my lap and think about some things… Things that involved Sasuke…

…

…

…

"_Man… How long had I been holding that in."_ I thought fixing my pants after emptying my bladder.

I was watching over Sasuke and thinking for so long that I forgot that even I had needs. It wasn't until I finished fixing Sasuke up when I realized that I had a **MIGHTY **need to urinate. Once that was done, I moved back to Sasuke's room to continue to watch over him. But when I got back, he was wide awake and looking around.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" I asked gently, hoping that I don't scare him.

"Unbelievably sore." He answered while holding his head. "What happened?"

"You passed out. You were running towards me and when you finally reached me… you passed out from exhaustion and stress~"

"Which you caused." He chimed in.

"Right…" I said before using my clawed hand to scratch the back of my neck. "Listen, Sasuke… All of that training I put you through… I didn't mean to push you that far. I only wanted you to become stronger. And, although it was for selfish reasons… I shouldn't have pushed you way past your limitations. I'm sorry." I sighed. The pure look of shock crossed his face and caused his eyes to widen. "What?"

"You're apologizing? That's something you don't normally do." He said curiously.

"Yeah well… don't get used to it. I know when I'm in the wrong and this time I was wrong, which is rare. Hence the reason I said don't get used to it." I answered, making Sasuke roll his eyes. "Well now that you're up, it's time for the final part of your treatment."

"Which is…?" I moved towards his bed and bent down to lift him into my arms. "Hey?! What are you doing?!" He struggled.

"First of all, stop struggling or I _**will**_ drop you." He did. "Second, don't yell anymore or else you'll wake everyone else up and plus it's annoying." He glared at that. "Third, it's obvious that you can't walk because of how exhausted, stressed, and exhausted you are. So I'm going to carry you to the nearby hot springs so your treatment will be finished." I finished while walking out of the house.

"I don't need a bath. I just need some rest." He stated.

"This isn't for you to bathe in." I sighed with irritation.

"Then what is it for?" He asked.

I didn't answer him until we reached the hot spring. When we got there, I set him against a tree before moving to the water. I used some of my chakra to heat the water and add some healing into it.

"This is for healing your wounds completely. I just added my chakra to this water, so when you sit in it for five minutes, your healing would have sped up if I didn't do this." I explained as I dusted myself off and I turned to him. "Do you need help getting undressed?" Sasuke shook his head and made a sad attempt at undressing himself. The display was too sad and slow to continue watching, so I walked over and helped him. Once he was completely naked, I lifted him into my arms. He was squirming a little, which was annoying me more. "Stop being so self-conscious, princess. There's nothing you have that I don't or haven't seen."After saying that, he stopped moving and waited to be placed into the water. "When five minutes is over, I'll take you out. All you have to do is breathe and relax." I said before sitting down next to the edge of the hot spring.

"First the apology and now treating me in the hot springs? What are you doing this for?" He asked.

"This is my way of apologizing. Sometimes I forget that you're human and this was one of those times where it could've killed you, so I am obligated to take care of you. You're not weak Sasuke. Like Itachi said earlier, we're both surprised that you made it the whole week without collapsing. It is for this reason that I tend to forget that you are human. And looking back on what I did to you makes me sick. I feel just like… **HIM. **He did the same thing to me, except he didn't particularly care about my well being. It's because he knew that I could take it and heal quick enough so that I wouldn't be down and out like you will be for the next few days. To be like him, even to you, is… beyond inhuman." I plainly answered.

Sasuke took in everything that I said and nodded before moving to get more comfortable in the hot water. After five minutes, I lifted Sasuke out of the water, helped him dressed and brought him back to Gaara's house. When I arrived in his room, I tucked Sasuke into bed and moved to lean against the wall with my sword.

"Wait. Are you going to stay in here?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course. I said that I would take care of you, didn't I? I can't leave you alone. What if something happened and I wasn't around? Tsk. Idiot." I snorted, turning my head from his view.

"So, where are you going to sleep? On the floor?"

"There isn't anywhere else I can sleep and I sure as hell ain't climbing in your bed." I answered, but the semi-worried look in his eyes made me feel slightly bad. "Just get some sleep and don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me." I said.

I guess that helped calm him because he slowly laid down and rolled onto his side so that his back faced me. I waited a few minutes for him to be sleep before letting out a heavy sigh. Between Sasuke Uchiha and my father, I'll be in my grave earlier than I would like to be.

"_Those two just love fucking with me."_

…

…

…

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

It was in the middle of the night when I woke up with a mighty urge to pee. Looking around the room, I saw that Naruto had fallen asleep and left me to fend for myself. I gently peeled the covers back and slowly got out of bed. My legs felt like jello, but I was able to find my footing before running outside to relieve myself.

"_Man… How long was I holding that in."_

I finished up and hurried back into the house and out of the cool night air before I got sick. But, when I walked back into my room I noticed that Naruto was shivering slightly. That's when I noticed for the first time that Gaara's house was a little cool. I would imagine it's to help with maintaining his house of sand's form. Feeling bad for the half-demon, I went into the closet, where Gaara kept his spare blankets and got one for Naruto. I moved to wrap it around him and noticed that he snuggled into the warmth and stop shaking.

For the next few minutes, I sat in front of him and watched the half-demon sleep soundly. I needed time to think about my feelings anyway.

"_I know that I am attracted to him, but I don't think it would be categorized as love. The only thing I know is that it is not lust. And even if I did 'love' Naruto, he would never feel the same and it's all because of my last name. I don't know whatever one of my relatives did, but it's causing Naruto to hate me. I think that's why I allowed him to push me so far. I wanted to prove to him that I was not like my relative, whoever they are, and that I was someone completely different. I want him to know that he can trust me. But, everything I want will only happen if I prove myself. He already knows that I'm strong, so that's a start. Everything else… I'll have to play by ear. Naruto Uzumaki will know me for me and not my name."_ And with that determination, I moved to lay in bed, only stopping whenever he moved or snorted in his sleep before finally laying down and getting comfortable. I felt my eyes close and I was about to slip into sweet slumber.

"Next time you wanna stare at me, please don't sit so close. I don't like my air to be polluted with your God awful scent more than I have to, idiot." He spoke.

I tensed when I first heard him speak, but relaxed and rolled my eyes as I pulled the covers closer to me.

"You're the last person to be talking about God awful smells." I replied, earning a snort and a slight chuckle. "Bastard."

**To Be Continued…**

**Next Time on **_**'Timers'**_**…**

The team gets a taste of battle and new characters will be introduced.


	8. Ino's Taste of Battle

**Warnings for This Chapter:**

**Author Shout Outs:**

_**Dragon77: **_Thank you for being my first reviewer and also for loving my story. I hope that you will continue to be a fan and reading. I love the reviews you give.

_**Random Person (Guest): **_Thank you for your wonderful review and I hope to keep up my stories to keep you as a fan. If you have any questions or would like to shot something at me, just review one of my chapters or try sending me a pm. Otherwise keep reviewing and keep reading.

_**Kazumiko Ritsu: **_I'm glad that you are enjoying my story and I hope that you won't be disappointed and continue reading my stories.

_**Uchiha Hinata21: **_Thanks for being patient and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

**Author Announcements:**

In the last chapter, at the end, I wrote the wrong thing. It was supposed to say that Ino gets a taste of battle and tries to prove herself. Sorry about the mix up, folks.

**Chapter 7: Ino's Taste of Battle**

**Normal P.O.V.**

When Naruto woke up, he noticed that he was really warm. He opened his blue eye and saw that there was a warm, soft blanket wrapped around it. With his clawed fingers, Naruto grabbed the fabric and played with it gently, trying to remember how it got there.

"_**Sasuke placed it there."**_ Naruto's head shot up at the sudden voice. Sitting in front of him with his tail swaying from side to side was Itachi. That black cat wore the biggest smirk he could muster, ready to tease his age old friend. _**"What, you don't remember?"**_

"If I did, don't you think I wouldn't have the confused look I have now?" Naruto shrugged.

"_**While you were sleeping, Sasuke left to use the bathroom by himself. When he returned, he saw that you were cold and placed the blanket over you. You should be thanking that boy, ya know. He's the going to all this trouble to make sure that you notice him."**_

"Notice him? He's in my perimeter 24/7. How could I **NOT **notice him?" Naruto asked while still tugging at the blanket.

"_**That's not what I meant. You said it yourself, you don't like Sasuke because he's an Uchiha, right? Well, heave you ever noticed that maybe Sasuke's pushing himself harder than the others so that you will like him. I mean it IS unfair to not like someone because of their name."**_

"_**You KNOW what that bitch did to me!" **_Naruto growled at Itachi.

"_**I do know, but that was her. This is Sasuke we're talking about. I've known him all his life and I know that he wouldn't do anything like that to you. He's not asking for the two of you to mate or anything. He just wants for the both of you to have a non-hatred relationship. Is that so much to ask for? Especially for someone that will be your partner in the war against your dad?"**_

Naruto tsked before turning to look at Sasuke's sleeping form. He won't lie, Sasuke is quite the looker, but so was _**she**_. Sasuke's relative was the first human that really showed any type of interest in him. He let himself be open with her and even helped her become a strong spell caster. So, imagine how many pieces his trust for her shattered into when she betrayed him and placed him under that sleeping spell when he broke up with her. From that day forward, he swore that he would never trust another Uchiha again. Now, Itachi is coming to him and asking him to make nice with Sasuke just because he had nothing to do with what the _**wench **_ did to him, wasn't impossible… but damn near close enough. Every time he looks at Sasuke, he sees that _**bitch **_instead. He will admit to that as the cause for yesterday's episode, but he does regret it happening. Deep down, Naruto knows that Sasuke isn't like _**her**_, but sometimes he can't separate them. If he were to comply with Itachi's wish, then he'll have to find a way to separate them permanently separate them.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto stood up and folded the blanket before moving to put it back in the closet. "I understand what you are saying, Itachi. And I promise to try harder at separating Sasuke and treat him better. But, it's not something that will happen overnight. Know that."

"_**Just you trying is good enough for me."**_ Itachi smirked as he hopped in the bed with Sasuke. _**"And who knows, maybe Sasuke could be that one that will unfreeze your heart."**_

"Ha, you're hilarious. Keep cracking jokes like that and I'll skin you alive." Naruto glared while walking to the door. "I'm going to talk to Gaara about my sword. When sleeping beauty over there finally wakes up, tell him to come find me."

…

…

…

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't help you." Gaara said as he handed Naruto his sword back.

"What do you mean that you can't help me? You're like the master of weaponry. You know everything about weapons. Why is this any different?" Naruto asked while putting his sword in his lap.

"That incident that happened between Sasuke's and your sword was indeed bizarre, but I cannot explain it."

"_**What's going on?"**_ Both boys turn their heads to see Sasuke standing in the doorway with Itachi on his shoulder.

"Gaara was just telling me about that incident that happened with our swords." Naruto answered.

"So what did happen with our swords?" Sasuke asked as he sat down next to Naruto.

Gaara sighed heavily with his hand running down his face. "Like I was telling Prince Idiot over here, I don't know shit about what happened between your swords."

"Hey~!" Naruto started, but was cut off by Sasuke.

"So, is there someone that might be able to explain what happened with our swords?"

"There is one, but it won't be the easiest journey." Gaara informed.

"_**Is it ever."**_ Itachi sighed.

"So where we headed?" Sasuke questioned.

"I know where we have to go… We're going to have to go to Mt. Peace Top. There is where my adoptive father and sensei reside. They'll be able to help us." Naruto grunted as he stood up. "Round the others up. We have somewhere we need to get to and soon."

"Hold on Naruto. You may want to hold off of going just yet." Gaara stopped him.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"It's in regards to one of the humans you're supposed to be taking into battle with you. The blond girl named Ino. I don't think she's ready." Gaara evaluated.

"But, that was supposed to be your job, Gaara. You were supposed to have her readied." Naruto glared.

"It's not that. There's another problem. The other two are passing with flying colors and demonstrating strong traits of their powers, except for her. It seems that her powers are locked up pretty tightly. I don't know how to unlock them, is the problem." Gaara explained.

"So that's where I come in?" Naruto said as more of a question.

"After training her countless hours, her powers will not unlock. If we can get them unlocked, then she'll be a great asset in battle. I believe that is right up your department." Gaara smirked with his arms crossed.

"Don't worry. I'll get her to unlock her powers one way or another." Was all Naruto said before leaving the house with Itachi, Sasuke, and Gaara close by.

…

…

…

"Ino. Can you come here for a second?" Naruto asked, making the blond girl tense.

"Yes?" She said timidly.

"Gaara told me that you can't unlock your powers~"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm really trying hard~"

Naruto raised his hand to silence her. "It's alright. That's why I'm here. You and I are going to fight as if we're fighting to the death. I think a little taste of battle will help you unlock your powers. What do you say?"

Ino thought about it for a little bit before nodding. "I'm ready."

"Ino, are you sure about this?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, you might get hurt." Kankuro expressed with concern.

"If this is what I need to do to not be a burden, then I'm going to do it." Ino stepped back a few feet before readying her knives. "Come at me with everything you've got, Naruto."

"Now she has spirit. You should take notes, Sasuke." Naruto teased with his sword out.

"Just make sure she's alive when you're done." Sasuke glared with his arms crossed.

Naruto and Ino stood ready in their posses. Naruto was the first one to move. He charged before swinging his sword. Ino jumped out of the way and threw her knives at him. Naruto used his sword to block them, but wasn't fast enough to block Ino's attack. Everyone was impressed to see that not only was she improving with her knives, but also her taijutsu. Naruto grunted as Ino punched, jabbed, and kicked him in various parts of his body and sent him flying back a little bit.

"Wow this is sad. The mighty Naruto is getting beat up by a human, a girl at that." Sasuke laughed.

"Oh shut up Sasuke." Naruto grunted as he stood up. "Gaara was right. You have been improving, but it's not enough."

Naruto straighten himself out again before charging at her again. Ino flipped out of the way again and threw a few more of her knives while getting ready to attack again. But, Naruto was ready. He caught one of the knives with his hand and threw it back. Ino dodged it, but was caught off guard when Naruto dragged her down by her ankle. Ino grunted as she hit the ground hard, but the sound of Naruto's battle cry snapped her back to reality. Seeing his sword coming down on her caused Ino to roll out o the way and made Naruto's sword get stuck in the ground. This gave Ino an opportunity to attack. With a few knives in her hand, she rushed at the half-demon with her full speed.

Not being able to take his sword out of the ground, Naruto had to improvise. He moved to dodge Ino's punches, kicks, jabs, and thrusts with her knives. When she finally found an opening, Ino landed a solid kick to Naruto's torso before thrusting her knives forward towards his face. Naruto barely had enough time to back bend to avoid being touched by her knives, after doing so he lifted his leg and knocked her back a little bit. Ino stumbled, giving Naruto enough time to run behind her, kick her in the back, run in front of her, kick her in her chin and knock her into the air. When she was high enough, Naruto jumped up after her, did a front flip and smashed her into the ground below.

Everyone made a sour face when Ino made contact with the ground while Naruto made a slow descend towards the ground. With a heavy sigh, Naruto made his way to his sword, pulled it out of the ground and strapped it onto his back.

He turned a sad eye towards Ino. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you unlock your powers." He sighed one final time before turning to face Gaara. "Gaara, help her inside and heal~"

"_**This fight… isn't over… until I win!"**_ Everyone turned around to see Ino trying to get up.

The girl grunted as she tried to stand. Surrounding her was a purple glow. Her eyes looked more deadly as her pupils turned into slits and her eyes began to glow a scary bluish color. Soon she was standing tall with her nails erected. She gave a light growl as she flexed her fingers and used the purple energy around her to draw in all of her knives. She held each of the small blades in her hand and moved to stand in her fighting pose with a deadly stare.

"_**Prepare to die, Naruto Uzumaki."**_ Was all Ino said before rushing at him.

Naruto went to grab his sword, but Ino was already at his side with her fist cocked. With the impact of her fist to his check sent Naruto flying back several feet.

"Damn, that hurt." Naruto grunted as he moved to sit up, but Ino was right at his side again. "Ah fuck."

The girl jumped into the air and threw a few of her knives in his direction. Naruto managed to roll out of the way before getting up and running away, barely missing her punch that put a dent in the ground from where it landed. Naruto wanted to get to his sword so that he could have at least some type of protection from the dangerous girl. Naruto was able to grab his sword just in time to swing it at her, but Ino jumped out of the way and onto the actual blade. Naruto groaned before bracing himself for Ino's hard kick to his face. Naruto was able to put his hand up in time to defect some of the impact, but couldn't stop himself from being flung back and landing on his ass from the force.

"Damn that girl really packs a punch." Naruto groaned as he rubbed his aching head before widening his eye when he saw Ino standing above him.

"_**You're finished."**_ She growled.

Ino was about to deliver the final blow with a knife through Naruto's skull, but Sasuke's cry stopped her at the last minute.

"Ino! Stop!" Sasuke cried out loudly.

Ino stopped all movement before looking at Sasuke. "Sasuke…" She whispered as she fell on top of Naruto's sore body, unconscious.

Everyone ran over to see if both opponents were ok. Naruto only stared at everyone with shocked eyes before clearing his throat. "I told you I'd unlock her powers one way or another." He laughed.

"Idiot. Kankuro can you please get Ino off of Naruto? I'll help him up." Sasuke said. Kankuro nodded before bending down and picking Ino up and holding her bridal-style. Sasuke moved to help Naruto up and support his heavy weight into his right side. "So, how does it feel getting your ass kicked?" Sasuke laughed.

"How about I wake her up and let her fight you." Naruto glared. "Well, now that her powers are unlocked, we're going to wait a few days before heading out to Mt. Peace Top." Naruto announced before he and Ino were taken into Gaara's house. The owner of said house sighed from the, already forming, headache he was going to gain anyway. The next few days will be spent with Kankuro taking care of Ino and Naruto arguing about Sasuke taking care of him. And right then and there… Gaara knew that it was going to be a long next few days.

…

**To Be Continued…**

…

**Next Time on **_**'Timers'**_**…**

Kakashi and Iruka will be introduced and Naruto and Sasuke will finally get some answers.

…


	9. The Wish Copier and His Lover

**Warnings for This Chapter: **Answers. Teasing. Kidnapping. Love rivalry.

**Author Shout Outs:**

_**Tsyilna Llyria**_, _**Kazumiko Ritsu**_, _**Random Person, **_and _**Uchiha Hinata21**_

**Author Announcements:**

Some reviewers have brought to my attention about Naruto's weakness when he's supposed to be the strongest half demon. Well, in this chapter, everything behind that will be explained. Also, I'm glad that everyone loved the last chapter and Ino's unlocked powers. It will not be a common thing, but you will be seeing her use them later.

**Last Time on **_**'Timers'**_**…**

"Ino. Can you come here for a second?" Naruto asked, making the blond girl tense.

"Yes?" She said timidly.

"Gaara told me that you can't unlock your powers~"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm really trying hard~"

Naruto raised his hand to silence her. "It's alright. That's why I'm here. You and I are going to fight as if we're fighting to the death. I think a little taste of battle will help you unlock your powers. What do you say?"

Ino thought about it for a little bit before nodding. "I'm ready."

"Ino, are you sure about this?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, you might get hurt." Kankuro expressed with concern.

"If this is what I need to do to not be a burden, then I'm going to do it." Ino stepped back a few feet before readying her knives. "Come at me with everything you've got, Naruto."

"Now she has spirit. You should take notes, Sasuke." Naruto teased with his sword out.

"Just make sure she's alive when you're done." Sasuke glared with his arms crossed.

Naruto and Ino stood ready in their posses. Naruto was the first one to move. He charged before swinging his sword. Ino jumped out of the way and threw her knives at him. Naruto used his sword to block them, but wasn't fast enough to block Ino's attack. Everyone was impressed to see that not only was she improving with her knives, but also her taijutsu. Naruto grunted as Ino punched, jabbed, and kicked him in various parts of his body and sent him flying back a little bit.

"Wow this is sad. The mighty Naruto is getting beat up by a human, a girl at that." Sasuke laughed.

"Oh shut up Sasuke." Naruto grunted as he stood up. "Gaara was right. You have been improving, but it's not enough."

Naruto straighten himself out again before charging at her again. Ino flipped out of the way again and threw a few more of her knives while getting ready to attack again. But, Naruto was ready. He caught one of the knives with his hand and threw it back. Ino dodged it, but was caught off guard when Naruto dragged her down by her ankle. Ino grunted as she hit the ground hard, but the sound of Naruto's battle cry snapped her back to reality. Seeing his sword coming down on her caused Ino to roll out o the way and made Naruto's sword get stuck in the ground. This gave Ino an opportunity to attack. With a few knives in her hand, she rushed at the half-demon with her full speed.

Not being able to take his sword out of the ground, Naruto had to improvise. He moved to dodge Ino's punches, kicks, jabs, and thrusts with her knives. When she finally found an opening, Ino landed a solid kick to Naruto's torso before thrusting her knives forward towards his face. Naruto barely had enough time to back bend to avoid being touched by her knives, after doing so he lifted his leg and knocked her back a little bit. Ino stumbled, giving Naruto enough time to run behind her, kick her in the back, run in front of her, kick her in her chin and knock her into the air. When she was high enough, Naruto jumped up after her, did a front flip and smashed her into the ground below.

Everyone made a sour face when Ino made contact with the ground while Naruto made a slow descend towards the ground. With a heavy sigh, Naruto made his way to his sword, pulled it out of the ground and strapped it onto his back.

He turned a sad eye towards Ino. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you unlock your powers." He sighed one final time before turning to face Gaara. "Gaara, help her inside and heal~"

"_**This fight… isn't over… until I win!"**_ Everyone turned around to see Ino trying to get up.

The girl grunted as she tried to stand. Surrounding her was a purple glow. Her eyes looked more deadly as her pupils turned into slits and her eyes began to glow a scary bluish color. Soon she was standing tall with her nails erected. She gave a light growl as she flexed her fingers and used the purple energy around her to draw in all of her knives. She held each of the small blades in her hand and moved to stand in her fighting pose with a deadly stare.

"_**Prepare to die, Naruto Uzumaki."**_ Was all Ino said before rushing at him.

Naruto went to grab his sword, but Ino was already at his side with her fist cocked. With the impact of her fist to his check sent Naruto flying back several feet.

"Damn, that hurt." Naruto grunted as he moved to sit up, but Ino was right at his side again. "Ah fuck."

The girl jumped into the air and threw a few of her knives in his direction. Naruto managed to roll out of the way before getting up and running away, barely missing her punch that put a dent in the ground from where it landed. Naruto wanted to get to his sword so that he could have at least some type of protection from the dangerous girl. Naruto was able to grab his sword just in time to swing it at her, but Ino jumped out of the way and onto the actual blade. Naruto groaned before bracing himself for Ino's hard kick to his face. Naruto was able to put his hand up in time to defect some of the impact, but couldn't stop himself from being flung back and landing on his ass from the force.

"Damn that girl really packs a punch." Naruto groaned as he rubbed his aching head before widening his eye when he saw Ino standing above him.

"_**You're finished."**_ She growled.

Ino was about to deliver the final blow with a knife through Naruto's skull, but Sasuke's cry stopped her at the last minute.

"Ino! Stop!" Sasuke cried out loudly.

Ino stopped all movement before looking at Sasuke. "Sasuke…" She whispered as she fell on top of Naruto's sore body, unconscious.

Everyone ran over to see if both opponents were ok. Naruto only stared at everyone with shocked eyes before clearing his throat. "I told you I'd unlock her powers one way or another." He laughed.

"Idiot. Kankuro can you please get Ino off of Naruto? I'll help him up." Sasuke said. Kankuro nodded before bending down and picking Ino up and holding her bridal-style. Sasuke moved to help Naruto up and support his heavy weight into his right side. "So, how does it feel getting your ass kicked?" Sasuke laughed.

"How about I wake her up and let her fight you." Naruto glared. "Well, now that her powers are unlocked, we're going to wait a few days before heading out to Mt. Peace Top." Naruto announced before he and Ino were taken into Gaara's house. The owner of said house sighed from the, already forming, headache he was going to gain anyway. The next few days will be spent with Kankuro taking care of Ino and Naruto arguing about Sasuke taking care of him. And right then and there… Gaara knew that it was going to be a long next few days.

**Onto the Next Chapter of **_**'Timers'**_**…**

**Chapter 8: The Wish Copier and His Lover**

**Sasuke's P.O.V.**

**(Three Days Later)**

It had been about three days since the fight between Naruto and Ino occurred. It was shocking to see Ino like that. I didn't know she had that much strength in her. And I'm pretty sure neither did Naruto.

"_**How is she?"**_

I turned my head to see him in the doorway of her room. "She's fine. How are you?" I asked, watching Naruto as he came to sit next to me.

"I'm fine… just confused." He admitted.

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't think so much, your brain wouldn't be so burnt out." I teased.

"_**Keep talking and I'll show you the true meaning of being 'burnt' out…" **_Naruto lightly growled with a cringing smile on his lips as he leaned towards me.

"Alright, I get it." I sighed while pushing his face away from mine. "So what has you so confused?"

"It's about my battle with Ino. I will admit that she is more powerful than I originally thought, but I still shouldn't have had any trouble with dealing with her. The same goes for when we fought with that half spider demon, Hakuku, and Hidan. I know that when I fought Ino, I wanted to take it easy, since she's only a human. But, I should've had the other two defeated within seconds, with or without my sword. It doesn't make any sense." He explained in a curious voice.

"What do you think it has to do with?" I asked.

"I don't know. I've talked to Gaara about it too. He ran some tests on me and he has found that even my healing abilities are slowing up. Whatever wounds I got from Ino should've been healed before I entered Gaara's house. None of us can figure it out, so when we get to Mt. Peace Top I'll ask my sensei to see if he knows anything. Hopefully he can tell me something." Naruto sighed.

"I hope so too. I'm still very curious about that incident that happened with our swords." I said, more to myself.

I understand his confusion. I may have been here longer than the others but there's a lot of things I still don't understand and probably won't. This place has really interested me. All of the magic, all of the display of power that surrounds me on a constant basis was something other worldly. It makes me almost glad that these aren't humans. If they were humans, then I'd really like to ask my science teacher how the hell did we de-evolve.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I answered, snapping out of my train of thought.

"You were laughing." He stated. I thought about it for a minute before shrugging my shoulders. "So, what was so funny?"

"Oh, it was nothing."

"Fine, keep all of your happiness to yourself. I didn't care all that much anyway." He huffed lightly.

I shook my head before looking down and noticing that Ino was finally beginning to wake up. She slowly sat up and used her hand to hold her head. "Ugh… What happened? And… why does my head hurt so much?"

"_**What? You don't remember handing Naruto his fox ass to him on a silver platter?"**_ We turned our heads to see Kankuro leaning against the door's frame.

"Shouldn't you be off playing with your dolls somewhere?" Naruto sighed in an irritated tone.

"They're not dolls! They're puppets! There's a difference!" Kankuro yelled as he got in Naruto's face.

"Will you shut up! I have a headache!" Ino screamed angrily after throwing a pillow at Kankuro's head.

The brunette fell to the floor from the impact of being hit by the pillow. He quickly recovered and moved to sit next to Naruto with his legs crossed. "What'd you do that for?"

"You are too loud." Ino sighed while still holding her head.

"_**That's why I'm here."**_ Tenten sung as she handed Ino a cup. "Here you go, hun. I made you a cup full of herbs that are great for getting rid of a headache."

"Thank you." Ino nodded as she took the cup. Ino drank all of the herbal drink in a few gulps before sighing and holding the cup in her lap.

"How you feeling, hun?" Tenten asked.

"I feel a lot better. Thanks for the medicine." Ino smile as she handed the cup back. "So, can someone please tell me what happened before I passed out?"

"You don't remember?" I questioned in curiosity.

"No. The last thing I remembered was getting knocked down by Naruto. Anything after that was a blur." Ino admitted.

"After Naruto knocked you to the ground, he was about to tell Gaara to take you inside and heal you. But, before Naruto finished his sentence, you got up, glowing purple, and attacked Naruto as if you were in berserker mode. It was amazing and scary at the same time." I explained to her.

"I did? Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Naruto. Did I hurt you?" She asked in panic as she repeatedly bowed in apology.

"It's fine, kid. In fact, I'm very proud of you. I was actually worried that you wouldn't be able to unlock your powers. But, you did, and you demonstrated the most power out of Shikamaru, Tenten, and yourself. It's good to know that not all humans are weak and quitter." Naruto smirked.

"Yeah, and besides… It should be Naruto apologizing to you for making kicking his ass so easy." Kankuro laughed until he was sent flying into the wall when Naruto punched him. "Ouch…"

"But wait." Ino spoke, ignoring the injured brunette. "If Shika, Tenten, and I had to unlock our powers, then so does Sasuke? I mean, he's supposed to be your ultimate partner when we fight in this war, right? So does Sasuke have powers to unlock, or is he going to go into the battle with his regular strength?"

"That's a good question. I don't know if Sasuke has any hidden powers. I mean he might. His _**relative**_ had magical powers, so Sasuke might have powers like you guys, unaware to even him. We won't know until we make it to Mt. Peace Top. And even if he doesn't, I'll be the one to train him until I deem him ready enough to be able to survive in the war." Naruto answered with his arms crossed.

"Fine with me. So, when do we leave?" Tenten asked with a smile.

"As soon as Ino is ready to be up and moving around." Naruto informed.

"Well if you ask me, I think I should be the judge of that." Kankuro smirked lecherously as he moved to touch Ino.

The blond's eyes widen before she riled her fist back and connected it to his face. **"KEEP AWAY FROM ME!"** She yelled as she sucker punched him all the way to the same wall Naruto made him fly into.

I sighed as I walked over to him and held his wrist. Kankuro was knocked out cold. "Yeah… I think she's more than ready."

…

…

…

We left after Kankuro woke up from Ino's punch. The three siblings, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara decided to tag along. They were curious as to what Naruto's adoptive father and sensei looked like. Gaara was more interested in the answers they were going to receive about Naruto and Sasuke.

The group was only ten feet from Gaara's house when TenTen stopped. "Hey… What happened to that bear demon? The one who trained me? Choji? I believe?" Tenten asked.

"He left the day before Naruto and Ino fought. He said that he had something to take care of and that he'll either see us at the war or before." Gaara explained. "He said he was the best student he's ever had."

Tenten blushed at the comment. "He didn't really talk a lot. It's too bad he disappeared before we had a chance to talk. He was cute." Everyone stopped and looked at the brunette girl. "What?"

"I can't believe you're attracted to that big guy." Ino gasped.

"So? I kind of like chunky guys. Plus, he's really strong. I feel like he was the perfect person to train me." Tenten admitted.

"Hey, I liked that guy. He was cool." Shikamaru added.

"Thank you. Besides, I don't think any of you should laugh because at least I admitted it." She huffed with her arms crossed. Her head turned when Naruto laughed. "Not you too, Naruto-kun."

"I'm not saying anything. If you're attracted to him, then you're attracted to him. I'm just laughing because of a secret he told me right before leaving." Naruto smirked.

"What was the secret? Please tell me." Tenten begged.

"That's something you're going to have to ask him next time you see him." Naruto answered calmly.

"Do you approve, Naruto-kun. I know that I'm only human with magical powers, but… do you approve of me liking him?" Tenten asked, nervously.

"It doesn't matter if I approve or not. All that matters is if you're willing to take that risk and if you're satisfied with the outcome." Naruto shrugged.

"**YAHOO!"** We heard someone said.

I looked up to see something white falling above me. "Oh no." I groaned before I felt the weight of a dog and a wolf landing on me.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Kiba said in a cheery voice.

"_**Get off of me, Kiba."**_ I growled.

"Sorry Sasuke, but it seems we're always being landed on." Kiba laughed as they moved off of me.

"Apparently." I groaned while dusting myself off.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

"I heard you guys talking and decided to drop in." Kiba smiled.

"Unfortunately." Temari rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"What is with you girls and not liking me? I'm the sexiest wolf you'll ever meet. I'm a true lady killer." The wolf smirked, showing his sharp canines.

All the girls looked at him as if he lost him mind. Naruto was the first to move past the conceded wolf. "No Kiba. Your breath is a lady killer." The half-demon chuckled.

"You're so mean, Naruto. Why are we friends?" Kiba frowned.

"We're not. You just like to drop in and bug. The only reason you're not dead is because you're not as annoying as Hidan was." Naruto answered in a bored tone.

"Yeah. That guy really was annoying. By the way, have you seen him?" Kiba asked.

"Not since I separated his head, body, and scythe. If we're lucky… he's probably dead." Naruto shrugged.

"Probably. You never know with that freak since he made that deal with that demon." Kiba shrugged too before moving to follow the group. "So, what were you guys talking about before I showed up?"

"Naruto was telling me that it doesn't matter if I like Choji or not." Tenten answered.

"You like Choji? That's cool. He's an awesome guy and powerful. I've had the pleasure of talking and fighting with the guy on a few occasions. He'll be a good match for you." Kiba nodded.

"Thanks, Kiba-kun." Tenten smiled softly.

"So, what did Mr. Grumpy say anyway?" Kiba asked.

"_**It doesn't matter because he has no room to talk about who should be with who."**_ We looked around, looking for the source of the voice.

"Up there! In the tree!" Shikamaru yelled, pointing to a figure.

Sitting on a branch was a very pale man dressed in a long black kimono with white design. The sleeves passed his fingers and the bottom of his kimono was opened, reviling white pants with the bottoms covered by ankle high, open-toed sandals. His eyes and hair were as black as night to match the two pointed ears and tail he had.

"Sai. I should've known you'd show your face around her sooner or later." Naruto spoke.

"You know me so well." The man named Sai smirked.

"So, what do you want?"Naruto asked in annoyance.

"I heard that you were finally awake, so I took some time off from my paintings to come and see you. And after hearing about this conversation, I would just like to let the record show that the Great Naruto Uzumaki has no right to right to tell someone who shouldn't be with who. I mean you practically slept with~"

"_**I don't need you broadcasting my sex life, Sai."**_ Naruto growled.

"My apologizes." Sai chuckled before looking Naruto up and down with wonder and lust in his eyes. " My, my, my…You're looking the same as the last time I saw you, from what I can see. So, that makes me wonder…" The demon suddenly jumped of the branch and appeared in front of Naruto, making sure to get as close to him as he could. _**"Is everything ELSE still the same?"**_ I almost gagged from the amount of lust Sai was giving off.

I felt tension build up inside of me at how close Sai was to Naruto. It only disappeared when Naruto pushed the demon away from him. "Get away from me, Sai. I don't have time to play your little games."

"_**Come on… Not even a quick look?"**_

"_**No…"**_ Naruto growled.

Naruto had to lean down to eye level with Sai. From what I remembered, Naruto stood at 6'2. This Sai character was only about an inch or two taller than me, making him stand at 5'6 or 5'7.

"Sai… How many times does Naruto have to tell you that he doesn't want to sleep with your whore ass anymore." Kiba snorted.

"Again, Kiba, I don't really need my sex life exposed. You're not helping." Naruto sighed while holding his bandaged head.

"No one asked you, wolf boy. Which reminds me. I have a bone to pick with you~" Sai stopped when looked behind Naruto and gasped with wide eyes.

His eyes went wide as he stared at Ino with great interest and lust. That same look he stared at Naruto with, making me somewhat relieved. We all tensed up when Sai moved from in front of Naruto to stand in front of Ino.

"Can I help you?" Ino said in nervously.

"What is your name, my dear?"

"Ino…" She answered before jumping when Sai grabbed her waist. "What are you doing?!" She struggled.

"You… are by far the most beautiful female I have ever met." Sai said in a gentle whisper, causing Ino to stop struggling and stare into Sai's eyes with a light blush. "Tell me child… are you related to Naruto?"

"I don't think so…" Ino answered quietly.

"Impossible. A human who almost matches Naruto in looks isn't related to him? I must capture it. Dear, sweet Ino. Look into my eyes."

"Ino, don't!" Kankuro yelled, but it was too late. Ino stared into Sai's hypnotizing eyes and soon fell unconscious in the pale man's arms. "Ino! No!"

Sai smirked as he lifted her into his arms. "I'll take her off your hands. Bye, bye now."

And with that, Sai and Ino had disappeared with only rose peddles in their wake.

"Damn. I don't have time for this." Naruto said, blowing out a heavy breath.

"Wait! I thought that guy was gay? What's with him being attracted to Ino?" Temari asked.

"Sai goes both ways. He's willing to give and receive whenever and where ever he can or wants. Sai can be attracted to anyone, but I haven't seen him this attracted to anyone since he confessed he was in love with Naruto." Kiba informed.

"Look I don't care about any of this. We need to go save her before that whore lays a finger on her." Kankuro seethed.

"Jealous, Kankuro?" Gaara teased.

"Hell yes. Now, let's go." Kankuro said before he started running away.

"Wait for me!" Kiba yelled as he hopped on Akamaru and sped after him the puppet master.

"I guess I'll go too. Gaara, watch over them." Naruto sighed.

I moved behind Naruto to place my hand on his shoulder. Don't do anything stupid or rash, Naruto. Like you said, we don't have time or room for recklessness." I warned.

He placed his hand on top of mine and gently removed it before turning his head to the side and staring at me. "Don't worry. I'll get them all back in time for us to get to Mt. Peace Top before sunset." I nodded slowly. He nodded back and turned to look at Gaara. "Keep them here until we return."

Naruto didn't wait for Gaara to nod as he started running in the same direction as Kiba and Kankuro. We all sat down against a tree and relaxed. Itachi was in my lap and began to fall asleep as I began to pet him. Tenten and Temari decided to train together. Shikamaru went to sleep with his staff beside him. Gaara sat with his legs crossed and started meditating. I on the other hand decided to do some thinking, which was a bad idea because I started thinking about the sex life Naruto was trying to hide.

…

…

…

**Normal P.O.V.**

The group of boys finally arrived outside of Sai's house.

"This is where he lives?" Kiba asked.

The house before them was made out of thick branches with flowers covering the roof and surrounding the base of it.

"Yep. He's been living here ever since I can remember." Naruto answered in a bored tone.

"That figures. Come on. Let's go inside." Kankuro growled lightly. He moved to the front, raised his foot, and kicked the door in.

"I was thinking of the element of surprise, but that works too." Kiba shrugged.

"We don't have time for that. He could be touching her with his filthy hands as we speak. And if we walk in on him raping her sleeping body, _**I'm going to kill him…"**_ Kankuro's voice gained a deeper and more deadly tone.

They walked into the house and made their way into the basement. Kankuro kicked the door in and all three men's mouths dropped to the floor at the sight. Ino was laying in a bed of flowers that complimented every part of her body while Sai sat in a chair and painted her. It was harmless, but to Kankuro… it was an outrage.

"Ahhh. You three are just in time to see me complete the most beautiful painting I have ever created." Sai smiled as he turned to face them.

"Sai! Give Ino back, right now!" Kankuro yelled.

"Now, why would I gave back the most beautiful being, besides Naruto, I've ever seen? No. I plan on keeping her here to recapture her beauty, time and time again." Sai smile widen to the point his eyes closed.

"You have never seen Naruto's true face, none of have. Why do you keep saying he's the most handsomest half-demon of this area?" Kiba asked in confusion.

"It's true that I have never seen his face or body, but I've see what's below and his family. If he's ugly, then any ancestors that were ugly belonging to him must hate him. But, from what I've seen, he was great genes, in _**every**_ sense of the word." Sai winked.

"Gag me." Kiba snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Look, Sai. I don't care what you think of me or whatever. I need you to hand Ino over. I don't have time to deal with this. I have other things to do to prepare for the war." Naruto sighed.

"And what do you think I'd doing? The more inspired I am the better I will fight. And right now… I can take on a whole army alone." Sai continued to smile as he put away his painting before moving to stroke her cheek with a clawed hand.

"Don't touch her!" Kankuro yelled.

"And what are you going to do about… Puppet Boy." Sai teased.

"_**Naruto, Kiba. Stay out of this. I will fight him." **_Kankuro growled as he pulled out his Crow puppet.

"You got it." Kiba shrugged.

"Don't take too long." Naruto said as he moved to sit in front of the bed Ino was on.

"_**Prepare yourself, Sai."**_

"_**Show me what you got, Kankuro."**_

The two began to fight. Kankuro launched Crow at Sai. The raven haired male dodged and moved to invade Kankuro's space. When he was close enough, Sai drew a blade and stabbed Kankuro. Kankuro faked a grunt before looking at Sai's shocked face.

"_**Got you."**_ Kankuro laughed as he jumped out from behind his mock-Kankuro puppet.

Kankuro riled his fist back to punch Sai, but the panther demon jumped out of the way and pulled out more daggers. _**"Nice trick, but I have a better one."**_ Sai smirked before rushing at the brunette.

While Sai and Kankuro were fighting, Kiba and Naruto decided to play a nice game of '21 Questions'.

"Alright my turn. I'm thinking of something brown." Kiba said.

"A tree?" Naruto guessed.

"Yes. How did you know?!" Kiba gasped.

"You're answers are too simple." Naruto answered with his arms crossed.

"Fine. I'll think of something harder next time." Kiba said before looking at Kankuro and Sai fighting. "Man, they are really fighting over Ino, huh?"

"Yep. Hopefully they kill each other." Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah well, we don't really have time for them to kill each other if you have to get to Mt. Peace Top, right? So I think we should wake up Ino and get her to stop them from fighting." Kiba suggested.

"Alright, so how do we do that?" Naruto asked as Kiba and he stood up and leaned over Ino.

Kiba leaned down and picked up one of the flowers surrounding Ino and sniffed it. "Hey, I remember these things. These flowers are supposed to keep someone sleeping as long as they're around that person."

"If that's so, then how do we wake someone up who's surrounded by a ton of these things?" Naruto questioned.

"Simple, we just remove the flowers from around that person." Kiba smiled as he started throwing them on the floor. Naruto joined him and soon all of the flowers were away from Ino and on the floor. They waited a few minutes for Ino to wake up. When she did, Ino slowly sat up and held her head. "Hey, welcome back."

"What happened this time?" She asked in irritation.

"Sai kidnapped you and wanted to keep you forever so that he could paint your beauty, or some shit like that. Now, Kankuro and he are fighting over you and we were hoping you could break them up." Naruto explained.

"Oh for the love of~ **HEY! KNUCKLEHEAD #1 AND KNUCKLEHEAD #2! STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW!"** Ino yelled, capturing both boys' attention and causing them to stop in middle attack. Seeing that Ino had woke up, both ran over to her, but her held up hand stopped them from talking. "What do you two think you are doing?"

"This lunatic kidnapped you, so I came to rescue you, Ino." Kankuro explained.

"Lunatic?! Excuse me, you barbarian, but I took Ino away from your sites to keep her around things almost as beautiful as her." Sai tried to justify.

"See! He's crazy!" Kankuro argued.

Sai and Kankuro started to argue, giving Ino a headache. **"SHUT UP!"** She yelled, causing the boys to do as she commanded. "Look, I don't have time to be dealing with this bullshit. This is how things are going to work. Whoever can woo be before I go back to my world will keep me. Deal?" Sai and Kankuro looked at each other before nodding in agreement. "Good, then your competition may start now."

"Ino, I want you to have the painting I finished." Sai said, showing it to her.

Ino's eyes lit up at the sight of the painting with her resting on a bed of flowers. "Oh Sai, it's beautiful! It makes me forgive you for kidnapping me and trying to hold me here against my will." She smiled.

"Oh good grief." Kiba face palmed.

"Wait Ino! I have something better." Kankuro smiled as he pulled out a mini Ino puppet. "I made this for you."

Ino took the puppet and held it in her arms and squealed in delight. "I absolutely adore it! Thank you, Kankuro!"

"Wait Ino. I can draw you in any position and in any style you want anytime you want." Sai offered.

"Well I can construct any puppet your heart desires anytime it desires." Kankuro tried to top.

Both boys tried to sweeten what they're willing to do for the blond woman, giving Naruto a headache. "Ino, do you think we can wrap this up sometime today? We do have somewhere to be before sunset."

"Alright boys, that's enough for today. Naruto's right, we do have to get back to the group. So… who wants to carry me?" The boys pushed and pulled on each other just to get to Ino. "You're sweet boys, but…" She smiled before jumping into Naruto's arms. "I think Naruto should carry me this time."

"Can't you walk?" Naruto asked in annoyance.

"No. My legs are too weak. So you have to carry me." Ino giggled innocently.

"This is stupid." Naruto sighed. "Let's go, Kankuro and Kiba. The others are waiting.

"Wait." Sai said, rushing to stand in front of Ino and Naruto. "My dearest Ino. I am sorry that I cannot accompany you this time, but whenever you need me, just pick up a flower and break the steam. I am connected to every flower in this area, so no matter where you I'll come running whenever a steam is broken."

"As long as I'm breathing, she won't need to call on you." Kankuro grumbled.

Sai glared at Kankuro before placing a flower in her hair and kissing her hand. "Until next time, Ino. Hopefully before the war, but if not, just know that I'll be by your side the whole way."

Ino blushed at Sai's promise. 'Thank you, Sai."

"Alright let's go. Sai, be ready when you're summoned when the war starts." Naruto said, pushing past the raven panther.

"Of course, Naruto-san." Sai bowed to Kiba, Akamaru, and him and glaring at Kankuro as he passed.

…

…

…

Sasuke and the rest of the group jumped when they saw Naruto, Ino, Kankuro, and Kiba heading their way.

"_**What happened?"**_ Itachi asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just keep moving." Naruto grumbled, still holding Ino in his grasp.

Everyone turned to look at Kiba for answers. The wolf only shrugged his shoulders, silently telling everyone to just follow him. Everyone just shook their heads before following their leader.

…

…

…

It took two hours, about an hour in, Naruto put Ino down so she could walk by herself. The mountain top was filled with flowers, a waterfall, and everything to ease anyone's worries.

"I can see where this mountain got its name from." Sasuke said as he looked around.

"Yeah. This is where Kakashi and Iruka live to get away from the 'chaos' where we live." Naruto chuckled at the explanation Kakashi gave him.

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

"Iruka is my adoptive father. Kakashi is my old sensei. After their wedding, they moved up here. Come on. They're just behind this waterfall." Naruto informed. The group followed the fox demon behind the waterfall and walked into a comfortable and cozy home. "Iruka! Kakashi! I'm home~"

Naruto couldn't finish his sentence because a brunette with his hair tied in a spiky ponytail and a dolphin tail swishing behind him tackled Naruto to the ground.

"Oh Naruto! It's so great to see you again! I missed you son!"

Feeling a little embarrassed, Naruto gently patted the dolphin demon's back slowly. "I missed you, too Iruka." When he heard everyone laughing at him, Naruto moved to stand both of them up.

"Let me get a good look at you, Naruto." Iruka stood back and took all of Naruto in with his soft eyes. "You've gotten taller and now have more muscles. I'm glad. Last time I saw you, you were looking a little scrawny. I'm glad you finally gained some meat on your bones. Now I won't have to fatten you up." The brunette smiled.

"Iruka. You're embarrassing me." Naruto whined while pinning the bridge of his nose.

"Iruka. He's a big boy now and you're being too motherly again." A man with spiky silver hair and wolf ears and a tail said while standing in the doorway of a kitchen.

"Damnit Kakashi, Naruto is my son and I will mother him as much as I won't. No matter how big he's gotten." Iruka argued with a light glare at his husband.

"Of course, sweetie. Whatever you say." Kakashi smiled before moving to hug Naruto. "It's good to see you, son. Welcome home."

"You too, Kakashi-sensei. It's good to be back." Naruto smiled as he let Kakashi go.

"So, what brings you here?" The wolf asked with his hands in his pockets.

"I have… a little problem and I need some advice only you can give." Naruto admitted.

Kakashi nodded at Naruto's explanation. "Does it have to do with your awakening, the _**wench **_who locked you away. You knew I never liked her. Or does it have to deal with sword? What about that Uchiha boy besides you?" Iruka asked.

"How did you know I was an Uchiha?"

"And how did you know I came here for that?" Naruto asked after Sasuke.

"Ever heard that old saying 'A mother always knows'? Well you wouldn't believe how right it is." Iruka smirked.

"Well, you've come to the right place. Iruka, why don't you take the others into the next room and give them some tea or something while I talk to Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi suggested.

"Oh sure. Come on everybody. And while we're at it, we can look at some of Naruto's pictures from when he was a child a baby." Iruka smiled.

"Iruka!" Naruto whined with slumped shoulders.

"How long have you known Naruto anyway?" Gaara asked.

"I've known him since he was born. I'm related to his mother, ya know." Iruka answered.

"Oh please, tell us more." Temari said with excitement.

"You're screwed." Sasuke laughed.

"I know… I know..." Naruto sighed as he slid his hand down his bandaged face.

Sasuke laughed at Naruto some more before stopping when he realized something. Excuse me, Mr. Kakashi~"

"Just call me Kakashi."

"Kakashi… how did you know my?" Sasuke questioned curiously.

"I am all knowing Sasuke Uchiha… there's nothing that goes on in this area that I don't know about, except when it comes to Minato and Kyuubi. That damn demon king knows how to keep me from seeing what goes on with him." Kakashi said with slight venom laced in his voice. The group of three walked into Kakashi's study and sat around a table. "So tell me… what is it that you want to know about?"

"Actually, there are a few things I would like to know. First, Gaara and I have found out that my strength and healing abilities aren't where they should be. Also, does Sasuke have any hidden powers that need unlocking? And there was an incident where something happened to our swords when they clashed. Care to explain?" Naruto said with one hand supporting his chin and resting on his right leg.

"Yes and here it is." Kakashi said before taking a deep breath. "After Sasuke's relative put you to sleep, Naruto, and before she gave your sword to Sakura, the wench spit your sword's power in half and used the power extracted to create another sword… Sasuke's sword."

"Wait a second. So you mean to tell me that the sword that Sasuke has right now was created from some of the power that was extracted from mine?" Naruto asked in shock.

"That would explain why they reacted when they touched." Sasuke thought.

"Yes, but there's more. When she created the second sword, she took it to the well and threw it down there to hide it. Once she made sure no one would find it, she took your sword and gave it to Sakura before going into dormant, which is where she's been this whole time."

"Kakashi, you know I don't care about where she's been or what happened to her. Just tell me how I can get my sword back to its full power." Naruto commanded.

"Hold your horses, Naruto. It's more complicated than that." Kakashi informed.

"Well, what do we have to do to make it happen?" Sasuke asked in a serious tone.

"Well first off, there's no way we can merge the two swords. Your relative placed a powerful spell to keep them apart. I could break it and make the two swords back into one."

"But you just said~" Naruto interrupted.

"You didn't let me finish, Naruto. Now then, like I said, I could make the two swords one again, but when Sasuke arrived and chose the sword as his weapon to fight with, he bonded with it, making it impossible to separate it from him." Kakashi finished.

"So what do we do?" Sasuke questioned.

"The only way to you'll be able to get your sword back to full power and win the war is by becoming one with Sasuke."

"**WHAT?!"** Naruto and Sasuke yelled in unison.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Naruto groaned as he banged his head against the table.

"Please don't break my table." Kakashi said as his sipped some of his tea.

"Kakashi, there has to be another way." Sasuke practically pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but there is no other way. Now, I'm not saying that you two have to mate or anything. But, you two will have to learn to become in sync with one another. By doing this, you two have to promise to always fight together, be the other's support rather they fall down or not, and, this is mostly for you Naruto, you have to promise to always protect Sasuke as if he was your most important person. I guess the best way to put it is if you think of Sasuke as your mate, but you don't have to actually mate him. If you refuse to take this responsibility… then your sword will reject you, take over your body and try to kill you. You're sword is your heart Naruto and it will not let you deny what it wants nor will it allow you to betray it. Once you do, it will stop yours from beating. Do you understand?"

Naruto raised his head from the table to stare at Kakashi. Naruto's one blue eye met with Kakashi's one black eye. In that moment, Naruto knew that Kakashi wasn't bullshitting him. "Yeah… I understand…" Naruto sighed.

"Good. Now it's time for me to tell you why your healing abilities and strength have decreased."

"It's not just because his sword is split in two?" Sasuke asked.

"No. There's more to it. To start off, you do have hidden powers, Sasuke. It wasn't until you arrived her and took up your sword that your powers became aware to me, so listen carefully." Sasuke nodded. "When Naruto accepts his responsibilities to you, you must accept the same responsibilities in order to unlock your powers. When you unlock your powers, both you and he must give each other your blood. You, Sasuke, in order for Naruto increase his strength and healing abilities, then he must take your take some of your blood like he's been doing. It's just that when you take his blood, you will be immune to its poison while also using your blood to strengthen its poisonous effect. The two of you must do this to become one so that the war can be won. It is the only way." Kakashi explained to the two of them. "Is this helpful?"

"Yes. Thank you, Kakashi." Sasuke said as he stood up. "I will be in the other room with the others. I'm actually interested in seeing you as a baby." The raven laughed as he left the study with his sword in his hand.

Kakashi drank the last of his tea while staring at Naruto. "What's wrong? You've been quiet."

"It's just that… it's a lot to take in… Just knowing that I have to bond with another Uchiha almost makes my stomach want to do back flips. You know how I dislike the Uchiha Clan. I mean, Sasuke's not as bad as _**her**_, but still…"

"If you're upset about just that part, then you're not going to like what's next." Kakashi smirked.

"What now?" Naruto groaned.

"It's true that you'll need all of this to be back to your normal powerful self, but might I suggest… reconnecting with your demonic side?"

"Are you insane?! You know why I locked that part of me away! How could you ask me to reconnect with it?!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his fists on the table.

"I'm not saying that you have to. I'm just suggesting it. I may not see everything that goes on with your father and brother, but I do know that they've grown stronger… especially your brother and after your awakening. I fear the worse when you have to fight the both of them. It's better to have it and not use it, then to have to need it and not have it, right?"

Naruto thought about it for a second before nodding at Kakashi's warning. "I'll… consider it. That's all I can promise you."

"That's all I can ask." Kakashi smirked as he patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"So, All Knowing Kakashi… What should be our next move? Something tells me that you still have more to say." Naruto smirked.

"And you'd be correct. As you know, Ino, Shikamaru, and Tenten all have demon roots. As their leader, it is your job to prepare them for the war efficiently. The best way to do that… take each of them to their distant families to obtain a special scroll that will help in their training their powers. By doing this, you will have prepared them as much as you can. Everything else… is up to them." Kakashi said.

"Why is there so much invested with this?" Naruto groaned after slamming his head on the table for the final time.

"That's what happens when you declare war, my dear son." Kakashi was about to drink some of his tea, but realized that it was gone and decided to get some more, leaving Naruto to groan and whine at how much work still needs to be done. A few moments later, the table began to crack and soon… it broke… leaving Naruto to face plant on the floor. "You're paying for that."

…

…

…

**To Be Continued…**

**Next Time on **_**'Timers'**_**…**

Gaara and his family issues come out. Tenten is the first to get her training.


	10. Poll Info

Poll Info:

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll. It really makes me feel loved, appreciated, and that people are actually reading my work and that I'm not wasting my time here. You guys really are the best. The winner for my 2012 poll was NaruSasu (Naru-seme, Sasuke-uke). I will be posting the one-shot I have for the couple sometime soon.

The Top 10 from My Poll:

1) NaruSasu (68-16%)

2) SasuNaru (46-11%)

3) NejiGaara (25-6%)

4) KyuuItac (23-5%)

5) ItacKyuu (21-5%)

6) KakaIru (20-4%)

7) ShikaKiba (15-3%)

8) SessInu (15-3%)

9) ShikaTemari (15-3%)

10) KibaHin (11-2%)

Thanks again for voting, but now it's time for another poll. This one, however is totally up to you, my fans. On this poll you are allowed to choose up to 5 couples from the list of 10. Whichever couple wins, I will ask my fans what they would like for me to do with the couple. I will anything from a one-shot, song fic, lengthy story, or anything my fans want to see. When a winner is chosen, I will put another poll up to see what everyone wants for this couple. After that... I will be asking everyone for ideas. More details will come about when it is time for the second poll and anything after that. This poll will be closing on March 13th, 2013. So, the only thing I have left to say is good luck to all the couples, happy voting, and please continue to read and review my stories. I love you guys ^^3!

**IMPORTANT NOTE!**

I'm sorry for the confusion to you guys. I was wondering why the past few days I was receiving people's lists of their choices. You guys were supposed to vote on the poll on my profile. I just edited so that it displays on my profile, so it should be up there by time you read this. I'm so sorry about the confusion again. But, if you go on my profile and the poll is not there, please send me a PM and I will go in and correct the problem. Once again, please forgive me for being an idiot and not checking on that. Happy voting once again.

**Few Words from Author to Reviewer:**

Also, I would like to express something to the _**GUEST **_that reviewed my **Bleach** story _**'Three Little Words'**_. I know that that story was not the best and full of mistakes, but that was when I was still getting the hang of writing. But to say that I am too young to be writing stories is an insult and you should not have taken it that far. FYI, I am 18 years old now, but when I wrote it I was 15. I read it after posting it and realized that it wasn't the best and needs some work, but I have not gotten around to doing so. I've been busy improving my writing skills and gaining more experience. And to say that I cannot write is also another harsh blow. I know that you were just being honest, and I respect that, but you could have at least looked at some of my most recent work instead of criticizing something I wrote on a whim and that is three years old. Next time, please take care in what you say and what you know, because you could start a war. I, on the other hand, do not care that you thought my story sucked, but I did take what you said into consideration and will hopefully find time to edit my past stories. Otherwise, please take the advice I give you seriously and please try a more gentle approach when reviewing people's work. There are some young writers on here, then just need a little help expanding their wings. I do not always like the way people write or think that some of their work is a little juvenile, but at least I don't tell them that they shouldn't be writing. People actually kill themselves because of comments like that.


	11. The Siblings and Their Relatives

**Warnings for this Chapter: **Nothing special.

**Author's Notes:**

I'm sorry for not updating anytime soon, but I'm back. I maybe sick, but I'm back with two excellent betas, **Sasunaru217 **and **Bosslady Dollface**. Well anyway, here is the new chapter.

**Author Shout Outs:**

_**Ravennakuran, Tsyilna Llyria, Nami1415, Ladious18, Kazumiko Ritsu, Dragon77, **_and_** Random Person**_ for reviewing.

**Last Time on **_**"Timers"**_** …**

"You've got to be kidding me?" Naruto groaned as he banged his head against the table.

"Please don't break my table." Kakashi said as his sipped some of his tea.

"Kakashi, there has to be another way." Sasuke practically pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but there is no other way. Now, I'm not saying that you two have to mate or anything. But, you two will have to learn to become in sync with one another. By doing this, you two have to promise to always fight together, be the other's support rather they fall down or not, and, this is mostly for you Naruto, you have to promise to always protect Sasuke as if he was your most important person. I guess the best way to put it is if you think of Sasuke as your mate, but you don't have to actually mate him. If you refuse to take this responsibility… then your sword will reject you, take over your body and try to kill you. You're sword is your heart Naruto and it will not let you deny what it wants nor will it allow you to betray it. Once you do, it will stop yours from beating. Do you understand?"

Naruto raised his head from the table to stare at Kakashi. Naruto's one blue eye met with Kakashi's one black eye. In that moment, Naruto knew that Kakashi wasn't bullshitting him. "Yeah… I understand…" Naruto sighed.

"Good. Now it's time for me to tell you why your healing abilities and strength have decreased."

"It's not just because his sword is split in two?" Sasuke asked.

"No. There's more to it. To start off, you do have hidden powers, Sasuke. It wasn't until you arrived her and took up your sword that your powers became aware to me, so listen carefully." Sasuke nodded. "When Naruto accepts his responsibilities to you, you must accept the same responsibilities in order to unlock your powers. When you unlock your powers, both you and he must give each other your blood. You, Sasuke, in order for Naruto increase his strength and healing abilities, then he must take your take some of your blood like he's been doing. It's just that when you take his blood, you will be immune to its poison while also using your blood to strengthen its poisonous effect. The two of you must do this to become one so that the war can be won. It is the only way." Kakashi explained to the two of them. "Is this helpful?"

"Yes. Thank you, Kakashi." Sasuke said as he stood up. "I will be in the other room with the others. I'm actually interested in seeing you as a baby." The raven laughed as he left the study with his sword in his hand.

Kakashi drank the last of his tea while staring at Naruto."What's wrong? You've been quiet."

"It's just that… it's a lot to take in… Just knowing that I have to bond with another Uchiha almost makes my stomach want to do back flips. You know how I dislike the Uchiha Clan. I mean, Sasuke's not as bad as _**her**_, but still…"

"If you're upset about just that part, then you're not going to like what's next." Kakashi smirked.

"What now?" Naruto groaned.

"It's true that you'll need all of this to be back to your normal powerful self, but might I suggest… reconnecting with your demonic side?"

"Are you insane?! You know why I locked that part of me away! How could you ask me to reconnect with it?!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his fists on the table.

"I'm not saying that you have to. I'm just suggesting it. I may not see everything that goes on with your father and brother, but I do know that they've grown stronger… especially your brother and after your awakening. I fear the worse when you have to fight the both of them. It's better to have it and not use it, then to have to need it and not have it, right?"

Naruto thought about it for a second before nodding at Kakashi's warning. "I'll… consider it. That's all I can promise you."

"That's all I can ask." Kakashi smirked as he patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"So, All Knowing Kakashi… What should be our next move? Something tells me that you still have more to say." Naruto smirked.

"And you'd be correct. As you know, Ino, Shikamaru, and Tenten all have demon roots. As their leader, it is your job to prepare them for the war efficiently. The best way to do that… take each of them to their distant families to obtain a special scroll that will help in their training their powers. By doing this, you will have prepared them as much as you can. Everything else… is up to them." Kakashi said.

"Why is there so much invested with this?" Naruto groaned after slamming his head on the table for the final time.

"That's what happens when you declare war, my dear son."Kakashi was about to drink some of his tea, but realized that it was gone and decided to get some more, leaving Naruto to groan and whine at how much work still needs to be done. A few moments later, the table began to crack and soon…it broke… leaving Naruto to face plant on the floor. "You're paying for that."

**Onto the Next Chapter of **_**"Timers"**_**…**

**Chapter 9: The Siblings and Their Relatives**

**Normal P.O.V.**

"I had no idea that all of this preparation would be needed for this war." Naruto sighed with his arms folded in his arms inside of his cloak.

"You're the one who choose to have this war. Dontcha think you should have done some research on starting a war before, ya know, _**actually**_starting the war." Kiba laughed.

"Shut it, you mangy dog, before I make you face my brother and father with me." Naruto threatened.

"Nooooo thank you. I would prefer to just fight the little guys instead of your insane family." Kiba snorted.

"Naruto, you still haven't told us what it is we have to do." Gaara spoke.

"If he hasn't, then I guess it's up to me." Kakashi said before finishing off his tea. "As all of you know, Ino, Shikamaru, and Tenten all have demonic blood running them. With the war coming up soon, he's going to have to take all three of you to obtain the full ability of your strengths. Once that is complete, you'll all be ready to go to war."

"Ok, so where do we start?" Tenten asked.

"It's funny you should mention that because you're the first one that will obtain your powers." Kakashi smirked.

"Why me?" The brunet girl questioned.

"Because, you're the only one with their family sitting right next to them." Kakashi said plainly.

"**WHAT?!"** Everyone yelled in shock.

"Are you sure?" Temari said with wide eyes.

"Yeah. How do you know?" Kankuro asked with uncertainty in his voice.

"Do you people keep forgetting that I am all knowing?"Kakashi shook his head while getting up to get a book. "In this book are all of the family trees and also the name of the people that crossed over through the portal."

Tenten took the book and examined it with everyone surrounding her. "Well what do ya know. He's right." She smirked.

"According to this, when Naruto's father took some of the humans and demons over to the human world, some of our ancestors went over there too and mated with humans. Well, that explains why your powers are weak and why they were locked away. Well, welcome to the family, Tenten." Temari smirked as she closed the book and patted the brunet girl on the back.

"Well, that was simple enough. So what now? Do you guys train her here or what?" Shikamaru asked in a bored tone.

"No. In order for Tenten and the others to reach their full power potential, they'll need their family's scroll. You guys must travel to the main houses to retrieve the scrolls. Use them to awaken your still dormant powers. Now, I would love to accompany you, but I have a dolphin to chase~"

"T.M.I.!" Ino shivered in disgust.

"So instead, I'll let Itachi lead you to your destinations. Now, from what I know, it takes about three months to fully learn the scrolls one at a time, but you don't have that time. So you guys are going to have to learn them within a month and a half." Kakashi finished.

"A month in a half?! How are we supposed to do that?!"Tenten yelled in concern.

"By not wasting time chit chatting and taking side trips. I wish you all the best of luck and do try not to die along the way. I'm pretty sure Naruto would be furious if his number diminished." Kakashi laughed to himself.

"Thanks Kakashi. Alright everyone. Let's head out. Gaara, since we're going to your manor first, I'll let you lead the way. Kakashi, Iruka, I'll see you when it's time for the war." Naruto grunted as he stood up.

"Of course you will. And we'll be waiting. Good luck, son. And, please, be careful." Iruka smiled after hugging Naruto.

"I will. Goodbye." Naruto nodded before following his group out of the cave.

Kakashi took this time to come up behind his husband and hug him around the middle. "Don't worry, Iruka. They'll be fine, trust me. Now come one. I want to have some _**fun**_ before we begin preparing for the war."

…

…

…

"Hey Naruto." Sasuke whispered as he walked next to him.

"Wow, this is the first time I heard to talk all day. Must be a new record." Naruto chuckled.

"I'm going to ignore your sad attempt at comedy in favor of telling you what's been on my mind all day. Why didn't you tell them about… you know…?" Sasuke asked.

"That's… something between you and me. And that's how I intend on keeping that way." Naruto answered with his arms folded.

"If that's the case, then how are we supposed to become one?"

Naruto stopped and turned to face the raven haired teen. The both of them stared into each other's eyes with worry and slight fear. It was Naruto who turned his head first and began moving.

"I don't know… I just don't know, Sasuke."

…

…

…

"Come on. Our manor is not too far." Temari called out.

"You guys don't really need me, so I'm going to stay here until Tenten's powers are fully unlocked." Naruto said before hopping onto a branch in the tree above them.

"And why are you not going?" Sasuke asked with his hands on his hips.

"Simple. I don't like their old man." Naruto said as he leaned back against the bark.

"Do you make enemies with everyone you meet?" Sasuke sighed as he shook his head with his hand over his face.

"Actually it's not his fault. Our old man isn't the best person to get along with. He can be a little… unbearable…" Temari explained.

"It's not nice to lie." Naruto grumbled. "Even though I think my father is the worst teme to walk the face of the Earth… you're father comes at a close second."

"Is he really that bad?" Tenten asked.

"_**Well he doesn't like me."**_ Everyone looked up to see a guy with long brunette hair move from behind the tree Naruto was sitting in. _**"And I'm the nicest guy you'll ever meet."**_

"Oh great. Just what I needed." Naruto groaned again before jumping down. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you again too." Neji smirked as Naruto leaned in to glare at him more. "I'm here to see my boyfriend. Is that an issue?"

"You should be getting ready for the war. Not spending time with Gaara all the time." Naruto glared harder.

"This is the first time I've seen either of you since you woke up so give me a break and don't get your bandages twisted in a knot." Neji said as he pushed passed Naruto, moved to stand in front of Gaara, and gave him a small peck on the lips. "How are you, love?"

"Fine. We were actually on our way to see my parents." Gaara nodded.

"Oh great. I really do miss your mother. I think I'll come along for the ride." Neji smirked.

"Wait a second. Who the hell is this guy? Another one of your past lovers?" Sasuke asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Please, I would sooner date you than take him to my bed."Naruto snored with a smirk.

"Likewise, dear friend. Likewise." Neji smirked back.

"Ok, now I'm totally lost." Ino said with her hand on her head.

"Allow me to clear things up, Ino-chan." Kankuro lightly flirted with her. "Neji is Gaara's mate long before Naruto was sealed away, but don't let how Naruto and Neji act fool you. They're actually good friends. That's… just how they show it."

"Well that makes sense now." Tenten chimed.

"Now that that's cleared up. Can we please move along. Tenten needs to get her scroll and I'm tired of walking." Shikamaru complained.

"Wow… you are so freakin lazy. How are you going to survive in this war with that attitude?" Temari said.

"I'll just hide behind you the whole time." Shika replied.

"Shikamaru is right. You guys go on and I'll meet you back here when she's done." Naruto said while turning back to jump into the tree, but Neji's voice stopped him.

"You're still mad over that situation?" Neji asked.

"Is he still mad?! Of course he's still made! Their father tried to kill him! Twice!" Kiba yelled at Neji.

"That's all in the past. Naruto has a war to be worried about. Not their father." Neji argued lightly.

"Yeah well, I still hold a grudge against the bastard and refuse to go there and see his face." Naruto snorted.

"Naruto you have to go. You are our leader and have to be there to monitor Tenten's progress and you still have to train me."

"_**Sasuke's right, Naruto. So please come down."**_ Itachi pleaded.

Naruto thought about it for a while before finally jumping down. "Fine, but if that bastard comes at me… I can't promise he'll live for much longer."

And with that, Naruto and the large group made their way to Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro clan's manor.

…

…

…

"We're here." Gaara announced. They were about to walk in, but Gaara stopped Kiba. "I would be careful if I were you… My father doesn't find the smell of dog all that appealing… He might just kill you."

Kiba shrieked and jumped into Naruto's arms with great speed.

"Gaara, stop scaring Kiba." Naruto sighed as he dropped the dog demon.

"Couldn't help it." Gaara chuckled.

"I don't care if you are Naruto's friend, Neji's mate, the Head's son, or related to Tenten… you still creep me the fuck out." Kiba said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Watch your mouth, flea-butt." Naruto said as he hit Kiba on the head. "We're on their property now. So, if you don't behave right now, then I'll give you to Gaara to and will let him deal with you the rest of the time we're here."

This scared Kiba even more, but none the less, he still walked through the door.

"Mom! We're home!" Kankuro yelled.

"Are those my three children I hear?!" Their mother called from the kitchen. Everyone watched as a woman came out and hugged Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. "And I see you've brought friends. How are you Kiba, Itachi, Neji, and Naruto? It's good to see you all again. And who are these four?"

"They are humans from the other side of the well. I brought them here because they're destined to help me win the war. This is Sasuke, Ino, and Shikamaru. This girl is Tenten. She's a descendent of yours. Everyone, this is their mother, Karura. She's the nicest woman you'll ever meet."

"Oh Naruto, you flatter me." She giggled with a light blush on her cheeks.

"_**Who the fuck are all these people in my house?!"**_ Everyone jumped when they heard the door slam.

They turned around to see the Head, their father, standing in front of the door. Karura moved past everyone to stand in front of him."Honey. Our kids are home and they bought their friends." She tried to smile.

He looked up from her to stare at the group. "Oh that's just fuckin great, It's already bad enough I get to see my failure children, but they also bring home people with them? And most of these people I don't even like." He moved passed her to glare hard at Neji and Naruto. _**"Especially you two."**_

"_**Likewise."**_ Naruto and Neji glared back.

"_**But mostly, I hate you."**_ He turned to face Naruto. _**"You think, that just because you'e the prince of demons and that you're going to lead an army against your old man, that you can just walk anywhere you please without care, do ya? I hate you so much, I don't even want you in this house. Get out."**_

Everyone gasped at the Head's words. "Honey, you can't~"Karura started only to be stopped by Naruto.

"_**No. It's ok. It's fine. I can't fuckin stand you, old man! You're the second biggest teme I've ever met, besides my brother! To be honest, I'd rather rip you apart inch by inch, but since you are the father of my friends and Karura's husband , I'll let you slide this once… But… if you ever disrespect me or piss me off again… I'll kill you and I'll make you suffer. Now if you excuse me… I'll be making myself comfortable outside, where I will be staying for the next month and a half. I will respect your wishes and stay out there the whole time. But, I hope that you respect mine… I don't feel like killing anyone while I'm here."**_ Naruto glared before walking passed The Head and Karura to go outside.

When he left, the air was so thick that it could be sliced with all ten of Ino's knives.

"So… who's hungry? I'll fix everyone some dinner." Karura said before rushing into the kitchen.

"Hold on, Mrs. Karura." Sasuke started. He turned to stare at the door Naruto left out of with a sad expression on his face. "I'll help you."

…

…

…

Naruto was sitting on a branch in a tree just outside of their manor and thought about his life. He's a prince of demons. He's waging war on his father and brother. He's coming to terms with tolerating Sasuke and becoming one with Sasuke. Overall, he's very frustrated and at a lost on what to do.

"Hey." Someone called, snapping him out of his thoughts. Naruto looked down to see Sasuke staring up at him with food in his hand. "I brought you dinner. Mind if I come up and eat with you?"

Naruto thought about it or a few seconds before lowering his hand and helping the raven haired teen onto his branch. Naruto took the food from Sasuke and began to eat it. "This is pretty good. Tell Karura that I said her food is great."

"I actually helped cook that, so you should be thanking me."Sasuke smirked.

"Really? Who knew that you could cook." Naruto teased.

They laughed a little bit before going silent and looking outward. The sun was slowly going down and created a soft orange, red, purple, and yellow glow. The air around them was silent, but very comfortable. Sasuke almost didn't want to interrupt the rare comfortable moment between them.

"You know what I realize? You're not like most half demons." Sasuke said with his eyes still on the sunset.

"Yeah. I'm popular."Naruto joked, causing both to chuckle.

"Besides that. You're actually a kind person with a good heart. Ya know, if you get past the foul stench and bad attitude." Sasuke teased.

"And you're actually an ok person… even for an Uchiha. You're actually very different from _**HER**_. It makes me take back most of what I think about all Uchihas. You are one interesting person." Naruto admitted.

"Naruto, I've been thinking… When Kakashi said that we're going to have to become one, it got me thinking. Look, I know you don't like me because of what my relative did to you, and I'm truly sorry about that, but I can't do anything about that. You need me and I need you. We need each other. So, the only way we're going to become one… we're going to have to get closer and actually get along with one another. I know it might be hard, but I'm willing to give it a try if you are." Sasuke turned away from the sunset to stare at the half-demon with hopeful eyes.

Naruto sighed deeply before turning to face Sasuke and nod."Sure Sasuke… I guess we can try to tolerate each other, but for me… it's not going to be easy. That's a fair warning."

"That's ok. I can wait." Sasuke shrugged.

"What?"

"I mean, we have to do it before the war anyway. So, I don't mind waiting." Sasuke explained.

Naruto's widen eye returned to normal as he turned to stare back at the sunset. The sky was becoming darker and soon… night will fall."It's getting late. You should go inside and get some rest."

"No. I think I'll stay our here and keep you company."Sasuke said as he moved to get more comfortable. Naruto was about to protest, but was stopped before he could say anything. "I know what you're going to say, but I want to do this. And, if we're going to learn to tolerate each other, then we're going to need to spend more time together. This is me starting us off. And besides, I've never slept in a tree before. This should be fun."Sasuke chuckled lightly.

Naruto started at the interesting human while Sasuke was making himself comfortable. With a shake of his head, Naruto sighed and did the same thing. "Whatever you say."

Soon both of them began to get tired. The night had just appeared and so were the stars. Naruto was still somewhat awake as he watched the stars appeared in the sky. Suddenly, a weight of someone else could be felt on his shoulder. He looked down and saw that Sasuke had fallen asleep against him. Not really caring or trying to move him, Naruto managed to get his cloak off and threw it around Sasuke's shoulders. Some of the raven's bangs fell onto his face, so Naruto used one of his clawed hands to move it behind a pale ear. To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke's skin was soft to the touch.

"_He's an Uchiha, so I guess it's to be expected."_

With a closer observation, Naruto could see the flawless, pale skin glisten in the natural moonlight. Even the blue highlights in Sasuke's raven hair was shinning like the stars. Uchihas are known for their beauty, even the males, but there was something about Sasuke that made him stand out more than any other Uchiha. To Naruto, Sasuke was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, so he didn't say anything when his heart began to sped up to the point of bursting. Deciding to try and ignore the feeling he was getting, Naruto maneuvered them so that he was leaning against the bark with Sasuke resting on his chest. Subconsciously, Sasuke sighed as he moved to get closer to the half-demon. This made Naruto's heart sped up more and confused him even further. He knew that having Sasuke this close was dangerous, but for tonight… he was dancing with danger.

…

…

…

The rays of the next morning came and shined in Naruto's face. With hesitation, Naruto opened his blue eye and stared hazily into the mild sunrise. It was times like this that brought the half-demon peace. It's times like this that made him feel as if nothing was wrong. It's times like this that made him feel emotions beside anger and bitterness. It's times like this that he could forget about the war, his father, brother, and even _**HER**_. It's times like this that, more recently, his mind wonders to the sleeping human in his arms… Sasuke Uchiha.

Remembering that he was still holding Sasuke, Naruto let his eye travel down to the soft raven hair, pale, moonlit skin, and smaller body resting on him. With his advance hearing, Naruto could make out the thudding of Sasuke's heart against his chest and noticed that his was doing the same. This astounded Naruto's curiosity.

He told himself, when _**SHE **_sealed him away with that sleeping spell, that his heart would never beat for anyone else. Especially an Uchiha. But, here he was, holding Sasuke, an Uchiha, and not even contemplating throwing him onto the hard ground below them. For the first time since the happy days of him and _**HER**_did Naruto feel at peace with having someone so close.

"_No. No. No. No. I can't let this happen again. Not again."_ Naruto panicked inside of his mind.

As quietly and smoothly as he could, Naruto slid from under Sasuke and laid the raven on the thick branch. He stood up and watched Sasuke continue sleeping, only freezing up when Sasuke's hand began searching or something. When it found the tip of Naruto's cloak, Sasuke pulled it closer it to him and sighed in comfort. Seeing this only made Naruto's heart beat faster and had him going out of his mind.

"_I need to go hunting. Maybe that'll take my mind off of things."_ The half-demon thought before hopping off of the branch and ran towards the forest.

…

…

…

Naruto took about an hour or so to hunt for food for everyone. During this time, he also did everything he could to get the feelings Sasuke invoked inside of him to calm down. He smiled widely, under his bandages, at the prized boar and demon bird that he killed. He was just bringing his kill back to the tree when he noticed Sasuke stirring. Thinking nothing of it, Naruto kept moving towards the tree, but stopped when he saw Sasuke roll off of the branch. Thinking quickly, Naruto dropped his kill and raced over to a screaming, falling Sasuke. When he caught the raven in his arms, he noticed that Sasuke's endless, black eyes were wide open with fear, his body was shaking, and he was still clutching Naruto's cloak.

"You ok?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's eyes moved to stare into Naruto's one eye. They stayed like this until it registered that Naruto saved him from falling out of the tree. The raven cleared his throat before finally answering his savoir.

"I'm fine. I just didn't expect my life to flash before my eyes." The raven joked.

"Well you're welcome." Naruto nodded. Both of them stared at each other for a little bit before they realized that Sasuke was still in Naruto's arms and that they were still staring at each other. Sasuke hopped out of Naruto's arms and handed him back his cloak. Naruto took it quickly and cleared his throat. "I, um, brought something for Karura and you to cook for breakfast and lunch."

Sasuke looked behind the half-demon and saw the large kills."Thank you. I'll bring them inside and cook them. When we're done… I'll bring your food out to you."

"That's fine." Naruto nodded.

Sasuke nodded back at him before moving to bring the kills into the manor. Naruto watched the raven's every move until the door closed. With a sigh and a hand running over his bandaged face, Naruto blew out a breath of frustration. He hated how his heart reacted to Sasuke and it was sending him out of whack. That's when he looked at his sword and noticed that it began to glow red. This concerned the half-demon greatly. So, he used some of his demonic energy to calm both his heart and sword. Once his sword returned to normal, Naruto laid it across his lap after he sat down.

"_Whoever is doing this must have a sicker humor than my father."_

…

…

…

After everyone ate, they headed outside to talk to Naruto.

"Well I'm glad you guys had time to relax and rest up, but we're on a schedule. So Gaara, go get the scroll and let's get started with Tenten's training." Naruto commanded.

"I don't know where it is." Gaara calmly answered.

"**WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS!"** Everyone yelled at the red haired demon.

"Exactly what I mean. I don't know where it is." Gaara replied.

"But, you're supposed to be in charge of keeping it."Kankuro panicked.

"I know that, but when I went to retrieve it this morning…it was missing."

"If that's true, then where could it have gone?" Temari asked.

"That's the thing… I'm not sure where it could be or who could have it." Gaara shook his head slowly.

"Oh that's just fuckin great! Is there anything else that can go wrong in my life!" Naruto yelled before banging his head against a tree.

"Hey! Maybe your mother might know." Tenten suggested.

"Do you really think Karura might know where it could be?"Neji asked Gaara.

"Maybe. I mean, I did keep it here. Maybe she might have found it while cleaning one day." Gaara shrugged.

"I just hope that she does know where it is. I don't think Naruto could survive if your father found the scroll." Shikamaru chuckled while Naruto was still banging his head against a tree.

"Naruto, honey, don't break our tree please." Karura said as she stood on the front porch.

"Mother. Do you know where our clan's scroll could be?"Gaara questioned it.

The smile on Karura's face fell at Gaara's question. Everyone was confused when she lowered her head. "I gave it to your grandmother, Chiyo, for safe keeping."

"That's great. Now all we have to do is~"

"But there's more." Karura interrupted Kiba.

"Of course there is." Ino sighed.

"_**What do you mean there's more? Lady Karura, please tell us whatever you're hiding." **_Itachi pleaded.

Everyone watched as light tears appeared in the corner of her eyes. "Gaara, there's a secret I have been keeping all these years and now…I'm afraid I have to tell you…" Karura took a deep breath before continuing."Gaara… you have a twin brother… and his name is Sasori."

Everyone gasped at her confession. It was Gaara who walked up to his mother and placed his hands on her shoulders. "What do you mean I have a twin brother named Sasori."

"It's true Gaara and I'm sorry I've been lying to both you and your siblings all these years." Karura cried lightly before continuing."Around the time I became pregnant with you and Sasori, I was cheating on your father with my secret lover. After your father found out, he killed my lover and would've killed me too, but the fact that I was pregnant stopped him. He said that when you two were born, he would decide what to do with the three of us. When I finally gave birth to you and Sasori, your father decided to keep you, only because he said you look more like everyone else in the family than your brother, and ordered me to kill Sasori. I couldn't do that to my son. I loved him too much, so I took him to your grandmother's house and asked her to take care of him in secret. I didn't want your father finding out and going to kill him. I still visit him, so he knows that he has a mother who loves him. I also told him about you guys and he became really excited to know that he had siblings. I feel so ashamed of myself and I tell him that every time. He says he understands and that he still loves us, but I just wish we could be a regular family instead of all this secrecy. Please… forgive me Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro… I am a terrible mother."

Everyone watched as she cried into Gaara's chest and kept asking for forgiveness. Temari and Kankuro looked over at each other before moving to hug Gaara and their mother.

"Don't cry mother." Kankuro said softly.

"Yes. We forgive you. It's father we can't forgive for causing your tears." Temari growled.

After hearing her children speak, Karura wiped her tears away and smiled. "Thank you my children. Now, go to Chiyo's house. Bring back the scroll and also your brother. I am ready to face my punishment."

The three siblings nodded their heads in unison before standing up. "Don't worry mother. We'll bring them both home safely." Kankuro promised.

"Please take care of yourself until we return." Temari pleaded.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Now go before your father wakes up."

…

…

…

"We're almost there." Gaara said in a sour tone.

"Gaara." Neji called as he placed his hands on his mate's shoulders.

"I'm fine. Just a little pissed off." Gaara sighed.

"Who wouldn't be. Naruto's right, your father is one hell of a bastard." Kiba shook his head with his arms folded.

"Tell us about it. He's been a piss of since we were born."Temari said in irritation.

"Speaking of irritation…" Kankuro growled.

Everyone was confused until they saw Sai appear in front of them and run towards Ino.

"Oh my dear Ino, I couldn't bear to be away from you much longer. The love I have for you is too strong and cannot be held back." Sai confessed.

Kankuro grabbed Ino by her arm and yanked her back into his chest. "Love! You just met her yesterday!"

"Unlike you, I know true love when I see it. And I saw it the moment I laid eyes on this beautiful creature." Sai said as he grabbed Ino and pulled her into his chest.

"Boys please~"

"Hold on for a second, Ino." Kankuro said before removing her from Sai's hold.

She spun away from them and was caught by Naruto. "Ino, just let it happen."

"What's going on between the two of them?" Neji asked.

"Yeah. You guys never explained what happened when you went to save Ino." Tenten said.

"Well you see~" Ino started before Naruto started screaming.

"**WILL EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR TWO SECONDS!"** And everyone did. The only sound anyone could hear was the sound of birds flying away from them. "Thank you. Now that that's over. Sai, if you can't keep away from Ino for a long period of time and I think I might just kill you if you keep popping in on us and interrupting us. So this is what's going to happen. You are going to come with us and **NOT **argue with Kankuro over Ino or I will kill the both of you. As for anyone confused as to what happened at Sai's house, I will tell you on the way there. All I just want to do is make it Chiyo's house with most of my sanity intact. Can that happen please?" Everyone looked at each other before nodding. "Good. Now let's keep moving. As for what happened at Sai's house, it went like this…"

**...**

…

…

"_**We're finally here. Are you three ready to face the brother you never knew you had?"**_ Itachi asked.

The three siblings looked at each other before nodding."We're ready." The three of them spoke.

Gaara moved to knock on the door. Everyone held their breaths until the door opened to revile an old woman with her gray hair tied into a bun. Her eyes lit up in excitement as she stared at the large group of people.

"It's good to see everyone one, especially you three. How are you my grandchildren?" Chiyo smiled brightly.

"We're fine, grandmother." Kankuro smiled back.

"Grandmother Chiyo. I'm sorry to rush things, but we didn't just come here to see you. We need the scroll mother gave you." Temari announced.

"Oh sure. Just let me go get it."

"But, that's not all we're here for. We came… to see my twin brother." Gaara finished.

Chiyo's shoulders slumped as she turned to face the group."She told you, didn't see?" The three siblings nodded. "I hope that you do not resent her. She only did what any mother would've done in her situation."

"We don't blame our mother for what has happened. It's our father we're furious with. Now, please show us our brother. We've been separated for too long." Gaara requested.

"If that is what you wish. Follow me." She led the group into her house. They stopped at a room where a red haired boy was playing with human-like puppets. "Sasori… Can you come here please."

"Coming Grandmother Chiyo." Sasori called. They watched as the boy stood up and moved towards them. Everyone's eyes widen to impossible lengths at the similarity between Gaara and Sasori. "Grandmother… Who are these people?"

"Sasori, my grandchild… these three… are your siblings your mother told you about. They came to see you." Chiyo explained.

"Really?" Sasori's face lit up with excitement as he smiled at them. "You really came to see me?"

Gaara smiled at his twin. "Yeah… we came to see you, brother. We came to see you."


	12. Badbutt94's Author's Note

**Badbutt94's Author's Note:**

First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting anything and for anyone who believes that this is a new chapter. I am making this author's note to let all of my fans and readers know that I will not be able to post any new chapters until after August 20th, 2013. As of right now, I am in another state, taking care of my very young siblings for my mother. She just gave birth, today, to my little brother and will need my help with the new born, 7/8 year old, 3 year old, and a 1 year old, yes people these are all of my siblings. I have been with my family for almost a month now and just found time to upload this author's note, so you can tell that I am busy. But, do not despair, once I return home and before I start college again, I will come back with a bunch of new chapters, stories, and everything you guys expect of me.

Also, on a side not, I have finally gotten my siblings on a schedule so I do have some free time during the night where I can become a beta for anyone who needs one. So, if you or anybody needs a beta for their work, let me know and I can definitely help out.

To add to this author's note, I will be posting this to all of my stories so anyone who's ever read my stories will know that I do not own any most of the characters in my stories. The only ones I do own, are my OCs and extra characters in all of my Naruto stories, Ke'Ania, Saedi, and Raven from my 'Secret Kingdom Hearts' series, and any other OCs I mentioned in the warnings. I also do not own any of the songs I have added in my stories. The only thing I do own are the plots to my stories, the design of most of the characters, and any 'music video' type of action happening in some of my stories. The only reason I am doing this and posting it to all of my stories is because I have received some messages where people were complaining and threatening to report my stories because I did not put any disclaimers in any of the chapters. Since this bothers people and since I refuse to go through the tedious process of dealing with this issue again, I am posting this author's note and will start putting disclaimers of all of my chapters and stories to please my audience and rule followers who refuse to even read my work because there is not disclaimer stated.

Another reason I am also posting this author note to all of my stories is because it has come to my attention that my past stories are shitty and they make me cringe every time I read them. I am not one of those people that will claim that every piece of work I have done is perfect and no one can tell me otherwise. I know that starting off I wasn't as good as I am now, and my work proves that. So, I have decided that, before I die, I will attempt to go back and re-do _**ALL **_of my stories to satisfy this need of mine. I don't know exactly when I will get around to it, but I can guaranty that it will happen one day.

The last thing I have to say to everyone is that I feel the need to be just a little bit closer to you guys so, if you want to, you can scroll further down this note and find my Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, and DeviantArt names so that you can follow me. On my DeviantArt account are some old pictures I drew, but I will be posting some more soon. On my YouTube account, I do occasionally post some videos of my favorite couples. If there is any requests for a video you would like for me to make with a song, drop me a request on my YouTube account or you can send it to my Facebook, Tumblr, or even pm me here. It all goes to my email so I'll get it one way or another. For those who friend me on Facebook, that is where you can get to know the non-fanfiction side of Badbutt94. For anyone that wants to follow me on Tumblr, there I will be posting any updates about my stories, videos, and artwork on there. Now, I know I'm not the best, but I do take pride in what I do and will post it regardless of people's opinions. Just like many other pictures, videos, and pieces of literature, they are there simply for anyone who wants to enjoy it.

Well, I think that's enough ranting and raving for today. Again, I'm sorry that I cannot post any chapters right now, but I will make up for it in a few months. If there are any comments/ concerns or you simply want to just drop me a line, go ahead. I will be waiting to hear from you guys.

**HOW TO FIND ME:**

**Facebook: **Blackcat Ke'AniaSora

**Tumblr: **soraxiii

**YouTube: **Badbutt94

**DeviantArt: **soraswifey


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